If you get an error when trying to start Automatic Updates on Windows XP and the error looks something like this:
Error 1058: The service cannot be started, either because it is disabled or because it has no enabled devices associated with it.
Or if Automatic Updates just doesn't seem to work;
Before even bothering to try all the Microsoft Solutions which I did to no avail, go straight to this site;
http://www.superantispyware.com/downloadfile.html?productid=SUPERANTISPYWAREFREE
If that link is broken then start at their homepage and look to download the free home user version;
http://www.superantispyware.com/
This free anti-spyware solution found and removed Vundo and Zlob viruses which cause the Automatic Update Service to be disabled.
This is not a spyware scam... just GOOGLE Superantispyware and check what other people are saying - see for yourself.
I ran it in the smart mode- not even a full scan and it found 206 references to viruses which it successfully removed.
It took about 28 minutes to do this scan on my computer which has 600+ Gigabytes of storage. It had taken me about 4 hours of other peoples 'solutions' previous to trying this.
DO YOURSELF A FAVOUR AND TRY IT!
