Many of you understand my feelings about automatic updates... the Microsoft Service you hate to love. It seems like we just got over Internet Explorer 7 when BAM! another update forced upon us that conflicts with agency operations - Internet Explorer 8 (IE8). Microsoft has recently decided that IE8 is an important update causing it to be installed via automatic updates. So now the questions and problems start about what should I do?
Already installed IE8
Back in January 2009 Beta1 version of Internet Explorer 8 was released. Warnings prior to download cautioned installing the software on a production computer. Beta2 was released trying to fix open, discovered, reported and patched issues but then some additional problems became apparent like the inability to completely uninstall the Beta1. Surprise that issues still exist uninstalling Beta2! The answer at this point is IF IE8 is not conflicting with your agency management system or the priority carrier websites you're lucky. Be cautioned that additional automatic updates might cause conflicts as fixes/patches are installed.
Thinking about installing IE8
You might be stuck in a difficult situation, as a carrier might require IE8. When this is the case, the responsible course is to determine if the employee's primary product is this carrier's rating site and you don't care about any conflicts with other sites then continue with installation. An option might be to install another internet browser supported by that carrier (maybe Firefox) be careful though as some carrier sites don't support Firefox.
Preventing installation of IE8
We can prevent the installation of IE8 via automatic updates in multiple ways but unfortunately, we can only advise employees. That is we can disable the auto-installation of IE but CAN NOT PREVENT an employee from downloading IE8 for installation manually! Please email all employees that installation of IE8 may not be compatible with the agency management system and some carrier sites preventing production. While there is a tool distributed by Microsoft - "Toolkit to Disable Automatic Delivery of Internet Explorer 8" (read here then download). I recommend an additional manual check by running Windows Update, Custom installation which will present available High-Priority Updates. If IE8 is found then Uncheck the checkbox to deselect the install, Click on the boxed plus sign to expand the description, Check the box labeled "Don't show this update again", and proceed with the rest of the update. Remember that monthly updates are important!
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