For those of you who may want to block the installation of Windows Vista SP1, Microsoft has provided a Service Pack Blocker you can use. In addition the tool can also block service packs for Windows Server and Windows XP for a period of 12 months. On their site Microsoft states:

Overview

A blocking tool is available for organizations that would like to temporarily prevent installation of Windows Service Pack updates through Windows Update. This tool can be used with:

• Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 (valid through March, 2008)
• Windows XP Service Pack 3 (valid for 12 months following general availability)
• Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (valid for 12 months following general availability)

This toolkit contains three components. All of them function primarily to set or clear a specific registry key that is used to detect and block download of Windows Service Packs from Windows Update. You only need to use the component which best serves your organization’s computer management infrastructure.

• A Microsoft-signed executable
• A script
• An ADM template

The executable creates a registry key on the computer on which it is run that blocks or unblocks (depending on the command-line option used) the delivery of a Windows Service Pack to that computer through Windows Update. The key used is: HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate.

The download is available here.

Comments welcome.