Windows Update keeps scanning and won't load

[It Is Me Here]

I've been using Windows update for several years now without any problems
(Win XP Home SP2, IE 7) but when I tried to use it today, regardless of
whether I chose Automatic or Custom Updates, it just kept "scanning [my]
computer for updates" and never loaded the actual list of available updates.

I have tried this several times already, all with the same result, and have
let the page load for up to 15 minutes, whereas the process took around 30
seconds previously, so I am quite certain that there must be a fault of some
kind. I have not, however, received any error messages - the updates list
just kept loading/scanning my computer indefinitely - and so all the KB
articles were useless to me.

P.S.

On a vaguely related note, is it true that there is now a Windows XP Service
Pack 3?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Mark L. Ferguson]

Open REGEDIT (start/run) to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate
Edit menu, Permissions. Give Administrator and System 'Full Control' and
'Read' permissions (and)
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
and find the key named "NoWindowsUpdate" and delete that key