John thanks.

The Internet cafe that I bought the beast from has now gone bust so I can get no help from them.

I have had a further thought on this problem of mine.

If I use XP restore feature and go back to a date before the Auto-update that reset WGA and disable Auto update do you think that I will be able to get the up-dates using the "Custom" option as opposed to the "Express".

Dont know if this will work but I feel I am no worse off if I give it a try.

Dave