Microsoft offers two slightly different systems for keeping WinXP up to date.

If you only want automatic updates for WinXP, you can sign up for "Windows Update" and get automatic updates of just Windows.

If you have other Microsoft programs, especially including Internet Explorer and Office programs like Word, Excel, etc., you can sign up for "Microsoft Update" and get all Microsoft programs updated from one place.

Regardless of which setup you use, you only get CRITICAL updates - things affecting security - automatically. There are additional "optional" things you might be interested in, so it's a good idea to occasionally go to the appropriate site(s) and click the "Custom Install" to take a look at what else is available that you might want.

Once you've set up your automatic Windows downloads, you should have a "Windows Update" icon on your start menu. It may appear there by default in some WinXP installations, even if you don't set up automatic updates.

If you have only the Windows Update icon and have agreed to get automatic updates, you should get critical updates for WinXP, and generally for Internet Explorer, automatically there. You may have to go separately to the Internet Explorer site/pages for optional things and for version upgrades. (IE7 is being "pushed" from the Windows update site, I believe, for those who already have IE6.)

With only Windows update automated, you also should go separately, occasionally, to the Office download/update page(s) for both critical (Express Install) and optional (Custom Install) features.

If you sign up for "Microsoft Updates," you should have a "Microsoft Update" icon on the start menu.

Using the automatic "Microsoft Update" setup should get you, automatically, any critical updates for WinXP, IE, Word, Excel, Power Point, etc., and you can also choose the Custom Install there, to get all the optionals for nearly all Microsoft programs in one place. Some Server OS, programs and utilities, programming languages/compilers, etc., may still require you to go to other places; but for most users Microsoft Update is a one-stop duzitall.

If you don't have a "Microsoft Update" icon on your Start menu, I'd suggest looking into getting it - for most people who use Windows.

John