You've heard scary stories of Windows XP SP2 installations gone wrong, and you live by the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" creed. So you've decided not to muck around with a working copy of Windows XP because the possible result--a PC reduced to a pile of rubble--is too horrible to imagine.

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For better or for worse, Microsoft's mission is to make sure SP2 makes its way onto your machine. Saying that "it's one of the most important service packs ever released," the boys and girls in Redmond have put SP2 into the Windows Automatic Update queue. In other words, if your machine is connected to the Internet and you haven't turned off Automatic Update, you may end up with SP2 whether you've asked for it or not.

1. Turn off Automatic Update
Like its name implies, Windows' Automatic Update feature automatically downloads and installs bug fixes and other upgrades, SP2 included. You can disable it with these steps, but please note: Doing so will stop any other essential patches or fixes Microsoft may try to roll out, so make sure you follow steps 2 and 3, as well.

• From the Start menu, choose Control Panel > Performance > Maintenance.
• Double-click System, then click the Automatic Updates tab.
• Select the "Turn off Automatic Updates" radio button and click OK.

2. Don't be tempted by Windows Update
Windows Update is the manual mechanism that grabs OS updates and downloads them; it's an alternative to Automatic Update. If you don't use Automatic Update, you can regularly head to the Windows Update site to scout out fixes, such as this month's security patches (Microsoft releases regular updates on the second Tuesday of each month).

• Go to the Windows Update Web site, but...
• Click the Custom Install option on the first screen you see.
• Ignore the SP2 download/install (it should be at the top).
• Instead, click the Review Other Updates button to see, select, download, and install other fixes.

3. Put SP2 on hold until April 2005
If you disable Automatic Update to keep SP2 out, you also keep your PC from retrieving other updates, such as the monthly patches that Microsoft posts to plug yet another hole in Windows. Not good. Fortunately, there's nothing stopping you from stealing a tool Microsoft made for big corporations to keep Automatic Update and Windows Update working correctly but to ignore SP2.

Want to avoid SP2 like a blind date? Open this file, and your PC won't download the update until April 12, 2005.

• Return to the System Control Panel applet and the Automatic Update tab, as described in step 1. Select the Automatic (recommended) radio button and click OK.
• Open Internet Explorer and surf to this site.
• When the dialog box appears, click Open.
• A standard Microsoft End-User License Agreement appears. Click Yes.
• A new window briefly opens and closes. That's it. You've just blocked SP2, but nothing else, from Automatic Update.

Note: This block is only temporary and expires on April 12, 2005. On that date, Automatic Update will download SP2 come hell or high water, and Windows Update will again start showing SP2 in its list of recommended downloads.

Change your mind? To toggle Automatic Update and Windows Update so that they will download or display SP2, use Internet Explorer to head to this page.