Before pressing 'Custom' or 'Express' buttons paste this text to the address bar and press enter: javascript:void(window.g_sDisableWGACheck='all') It turns off the trigger for the key check. I found that if you go to Tools->Manage Add-ons (Req. XP SP 2 of course), then select to show "Add-ons that have been used by Internet Explorer" and finally set Windows Genuine Advantage to "Disable" and then Restart Internet Explorer, it lets you do Windows Update just fine javascript:void(window.g_sDisableWGACheck='all')