Microsoft issues critical SharePoint SP2 fix

Microsoft has issued a fix for a licensing flaw that had affected its SharePoint software since the introduction of service pack two (SP2).

The problem was causing the software licensing terms to change, so that full copies of the software were being downgraded to 180-day trial versions and then shutting down.

The company has now released fixes for the 32-bit and 64-bit versions.

"The update can be applied before or after SP2 installation," said the company in the Microsoft SharePoint Team Blog. "If the update is applied prior to installing SP2 it will prevent the expiration date from being improperly activated during installation of SP2. If it is applied after SP2 it will remove the expiration date incorrectly set during installation of SP2."

Once the patch has been installed, the License Type text on the Convert License Type page in Central Administration no longer contains the word 'trial'.

The fix has taken over a month to come through since it was first acknowledged in May, leaving many IT managers exasperated at having shelled out on full licences for the code.

Data on the application was not harmed, but the problem was a major concern for companies at which SharePoint is a mission-critical application.