Companies that rely on Microsoft's built-in Automatic Update functionality
to keep their organization up-to-date with fixes might still want to delay Internet
Explorer (IE) 7.0 deployment (e.g., if they use Web sites that aren't tested
with IE 7.0 or don't work with IE 7.0). The Internet Explorer 7 Blocker Toolkit
lets you stop automatic deployment of IE 7.0. You can download the tool at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=4516a6f7-5d44-482b-9dbd-8
69b4a90159c&displaylang=en. The tool runs as a Group Policy administrative
template or as a script. Both options reset the registry subkey HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\
Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Setup\7.0\DoNot AllowIE70 to 1. Organizations that
use Active Directory (AD) and Group Policy can use the administrative template;
organizations that don't have (or don't want to use) Group Policy can run the
script. The blocker also stops deployment of the browser when you visit the
Microsoft Windows Update Web site and select the Express mode for installation
updates.
The blocker works only for IE 7.0 deployments that run through the Automatic
Update Client and communicate directly with Microsoft's update servers. Even
if the blocker is enabled, other deployment methods still function—for
example, Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) and Microsoft Systems Management
Server (SMS) still deploy.