Constant update offerings at bootup

[Billl]

One of my computers is offering the same updates every time I start it
up. They appear to be run-of-the-mill updates (like one for IE6, and
three other anonymous KB...... ones). I am first notified that "These
updates are ready for downloading". I click OK and let them download.
Then, I am told they are ready for installation. They appear to install
(I get "Done!" after each one). But, the next time I start up the
computer, I get the same progression as above.

The computer is Win XP Pro (SP2) with all (so far) updates and is a
laptop. My other desktops seem to have installed the updates just fine
as they show up in the Install/Uninstall dialog box.

I have tried clearing out all the TEMP folders I can find; turned off
the anti-virus at least once; and turned off auto-update, rebooted, and
turned it back on again.

One possible clue is that I was asked (only twice in the last week of
bootups) to install and run WGA tool. Is there some way this can fail,
but not notify me? My Win XP is definitely genuine (I have the original
disk) but a blog entry on another forum said that it was possible that
the WGA failed in a manner that would stop updates from 'taking'. It
sounded far-fetched, but at this stage I'm grasping at straws.

Billl

 

[Billl]

I forgot to add that I tried also to download/install SP3. The
Winupdate site took over an hour (and I have DSL) to
download/verify/install the SP, and then, right at the end, gave me a
"Failed!" on it. Same problem??

Billl

--->

 

[Billl]

Anyone???

Billl