14 DAY TRIAL // Windows XP systems set to auto update will be unable to prevent the installation of service pack 2 from April 12 onwards, according to information available from Microsoft.
When Windows XP Service Pack 2 was released last year, a feature that blocked the pack from being installed was available, and it prevented the systems from being updated even in running on auto-update mode. Many customers asked for the ability to temporarily block the delivery of SP2 in order to provide additional time for validation and testing of the update.
Apparently, now is the time microsoft thinks everybody had the chance to sketch an opinion about the benefits of the Service Pack 2 and that's why the software giant is making the upgrade mandatory.
April 12 is also the second Tuesday of the month, the day on which Microsoft normally releases security fixes for its products.
Other changes are planned for Win XP users, as on February 28, Microsoft will disable Internet activation for all Microsoft Windows XP product keys located on the Certificates of Authenticity (COA) labels distributed by large, multinational OEMs.
Direct Original Equipment Manufacturers of Microsoft usually preinstall Windows software using System Lock Preinstall (SLP), which is a direct OEM's method of legitimately bypassing Product Activation on behalf of their customers.
One form of piracy occurs when Product Keys are stolen from Certificates of Authenticity (COAs) that have been placed on direct OEM machines where the Windows software was preinstalled using SLP.
Pirates take the Product Key from these COAs and sell them to resellers or customers who then use them to activate a hard disk loaded copy of Windows. Microsoft will "disable" the ability to activate these direct OEM Product Keys over the Internet.