addend to Breton Cap:

As noted in the reply to Kaleea above, my old link to Windows update is now being redirected to Microsoft update. This may be a general thing, or it may be only because I've signed up for Microsoft update so my machine knows it should do that.

Windows Update and Microsoft Update have been two distinct things, but the appearance of multiple new (beta) sites in Microsoft's arsenal of antimalware stuff could indicate a change in their policy on providing Critical Updates to unvalidated WinXP users.

A valid and verified license has always been required for the Microsoft Update system. If they've decided to discontinue the separate Windows update it could mean that nothing's going to be available for users without valid certs.

This is pure speculation, and is not based on anything I can find that says the policy is being changed. It should be questionable that Microsoft would not provide critical updates to everyone, since that would convert more than 100,000,000 known "counterfeit users" into immediately infected pestholes that, with mass mailing worms, could literally shut down the entire internet. Of course, there's at least an equal number of valid users who haven't bothered to install any updates, or to use valid/current AV, which IMO is much like spitting in a crowd.

Small wonder that organized crime is suspected of being the most prolific creator of recent new malware. Russian and Chinese gangs appear to lead in real malware recently, but nearly all my spam email seems to come from the same, probably small, "organization" in Canada.

I believe you mentioned the possibility of getting a new legal copy of WinXP, if necessary. As has been said, an OEM copy is part of the first machine on which it's installed; and it can't be copied or moved to a different hardware setup.

I have a "verbal" (email) communication from a Microsoft support tech that states that the "Retail" version (I think the term was "FPP = Full Product Package") that you yourself buy in shrink wrap from a retail store can be moved to another machine without invalidating the license, as long as it's on only one machine at a time. The tech who gave me that statement was unable to provide any published source where Microsoft has said this, so I have to consider it "hearsay" until I can actually see the EULA that comes with the FPP product. If you can confirm that it's portable, it might affect whether it's worth buying a new WinXP for your present machine.

If you wait six months and buy a new machine with an installed OS, you probably will be offered the new "Vista" OS. I'm "-whelmed" by all it offers, but haven't decided if it's "over-" or "under-".

John