Looks like Microsoft in their great wisdom has chosen to make IE7 a critcal high priority udpate which means all computers that have automatic updates enabled and set to download and install, are going to get IE7.
This is not true. It is not a "critical" update. Nor will it be automaticly installed, no matter what your Windows Update settings may be.
Options for Blocking Automatic Delivery
Microsoft recommends that organizations who are using Automatic Updates in their environments and wish to prevent users from automatically receiving Internet Explorer 7 take one or more of the following steps:
1. Download and deploy the Internet Explorer 7 Blocker Toolkit.
The non-expiring Blocker Toolkit (available from the Microsoft Download Center here:
includes both a Group Policy template and a script that set a registry key to prevent Automatic Updates and the Windows Update and Microsoft Update sites from offering Internet Explorer 7 as a high-priority update.
(Note: The Blocker Toolkit will not prevent users who are local administrators from manually installing Internet Explorer 7 from, for example, external media or the Microsoft Download Center.)
2. Deploy an update management solution that provides full control over the updates deployed to computers in your network. Microsoft offers the free Windows Server Update Services and the more advanced Systems Management Server 2003 update management products. IT Administrators using an update management solution should use the standard features of their product, rather than the Blocker Toolkit, to control Internet Explorer 7 distribution.
3. Prevent users from running as local administrators on their computers. Users who are not local administrators will not be offered the update and can be restricted from manually installing Internet Explorer 7 (or any other application).
4. Instruct users to decline Internet Explorer 7 when Automatic Updates notifies them that the update is available to install. If the above options are not feasible for your organization, you can also instruct your users to choose “Don’t Install” when prompted by the Internet Explorer 7 welcome screen. Users will not need to take special action to receive notification, and all users will have the ability to decline installation.
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Users Helping Users