Specifically cannot see the windowupdate and related sites/ WindowsXP home SP1

[Guest]

I have windows XP home, SP1 and for some reason, Windows update has stopped working.

If I try connecting with the Windows Update program, an IE 6 window opens up with "the page cannot be displayed, HTTP 404 file not found". My internet connection works fine, and I can browse the web as normal, but if I try to visit "windowsupdate.microsoft.com" either directly, or via the microsoft website, I get the same error messsage. Ditto if I use another browser (Mozilla).
I specifically cant visit either the Windowsupdate page, or any related page, such as "troubleshooting windows update" .

Any help or tips would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Doug Knox MS-MVP]

Look in the Windows\System32\drivers\etc folder for the HOSTS file. It should not have any active entries in it. You can rename it to HOSTS.OLD, if you're not sure.

You may also want to see if you've been infected with QHosts

http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/trojan.qhosts.html