Microsoft is warning of a flaw in its SharePoint software that shuts down the application after six months.

Jeff Teper, corporate vice president of the Office SharePoint Server Group at Microsoft, said that the issue arises when users install service pack two (SP2) for Office SharePoint Server 2007, Project Server 2007, Form Server 2007, Search Server 2008 and Search Server 2008 Express.

"During the installation of SP2, a product expiration date is improperly activated," said Teper.

"This means SharePoint will expire as though it was a trial installation 180 days after SP2 is deployed. The activation of the expiration date will not affect the normal function of SharePoint up until the expiration date passes."

The data already in the application will not be harmed, he said, and Microsoft is working on a fix. For the time being customers should re-enter their Product ID number on the 'Convert Licence Type' page in Central Administration.