Hey gang. I could really use some help. I'll try to
provide as much info as I can.

System: Intel PIII 866, 768 MB RAM
O/S: Windows XP Home w/SP1

This is a brand-new installation. My old hard drive got
trashed, so as a gift my wife bought me a new one and
Windows XP to upgrade my system a bit. Everything has
gone swimmingly up to the Windows Update.

Thus far the ONLY software on the computer is:

Windows XP (obviously)
AOL 8.0
Norton Antivirus 2003 for XP
Microprose Worms Armageddon

Pretty much installed in that order. AOL 8.0 is done with
all of it's updates when logging off, Norton is completely
up to date with LiveUpdate. Then I tried to update
Windows XP.

At first, I kept getting the 0x800A138F error with
0x800C0008 error code in my update log. We fixed that
problem by changing my system time from October 28, 2004,
to October 28, 2003. I felt like a moron after that. =)

Ok, that problem solved. Now, however, whenever I click
on Windows Update from my Start Menu, I get a popup asking
me to open or dowload a file
called "windowsupdate.microsoft[1]". My only options are
to either save it to disk, or open it from there. If I
attempt to open it, it tells me the file type is
unrecognized. If I save it to disk and try to open it,
the same thing occurs.

To skirt that problem, or attempt to, I have gone directly
to http://v4.windowsupdate.microsoft.com. I can access
the site no problem through AOL, and it scans my computer,
telling me there are 13 critical updates (14.7 MB) and a
bunch of reccomended updates as well. First, I tried
downloading some of the optional ones as well as the
critical updates. An hour later, after downloading all
the files to my computer, the thing hung up on me. It
said 4 minutes of time left, the download seemed complete
(full blue bar, 20.1 MB of 20.1 MB downloaded), but no
installation.

After cancelling that, I tried again. Again, it scanned
my computer, I picked the same updates, and
it "downloaded" them. In reality, it was very
quick...they were already in my WUTemp folder, so it
simply checked if they were there and skipped on. And,
again, it hung up just at the install point. I disabled
Norton and tried again. Same effect.

I deleted everything in my WUTemp folder and tried again
with ONLY the critical updates this time. It just got
finished downloading, and hung up again on the install.
The little download window just sits there with a full
blue download bar, and an empty install bar, frozen.
After 3 days of trying to figure this crap out, I am at my
wits end.

All of the files/folders are in my WUTemp folder. They
are all .exe files. Can I just execute them manually? I
would rather not try this without knowing what it will
screw up.

Better still, how can I get the Windows Update to stop
hanging up on the install portion? Nothing in the online
Troublesooting guide addresses the question. And I would
rather use the $35 tech support option as a last resort.
Microsoft has enough money already.

And, why can't I do Windows Update off my Start Menu?
What is "windowsupdate.microsoft[1]," and why is it
attempting to get me to install a file that is
unrecognized?

Any help would be appreciated GREATLY.