I checked for microsoft updates just 2 hours ago on my gaming box. I was all up to date. Then my nephew got here with his box so I went to make sure his was updated with the most recent patches from Microsoft and the update page looked totally different on his. It gave me an error saying it couldn't validate the product key. I went back to my box and tried the update page from mine and it showed me the new update engine just like my nephew's except mine is a legal version. It came back with no updates available at the current time. So, it looks like if you aren't using a legal copy, they can tell somehow. How many of you think this sux. Hehehehe or should I say Hahahahahaha! I'M LEGAL! I'M LEGAL! Naaa NA NA Naaa NA. LOL

There is some of mine I don't know do I should up date them or not.Drivers nvidia display software updates released on 10/6/03 and Intel network software update released on 6/22/04.
then beyondunreal has post this
NVIDIA Adds directx 9.0c Support
by raffi_b at 5:07 PM edt (Tech News) [ 1 Comment ] #6480

Following the DirectX 9.0c release, NVIDIA have released a new version of their popular forceware video card drivers to take advantage of the new technology.

If you own an NVIDIA video card, you can download the drivers here (Windows 2000/xp.)

then I saw this it look cool.
To assist with eye strain and enable ergonomic computing, NVIDIA added the quickzoom feature to ForceWare Release 60. QuickZoom allows users to zoom in on any part of their desktop by pressing a single hotkey. When enabled, QuickZoom does not require an additional zoom window, making it optimized for both single and multi-display configurations. QuickZoom works by zooming in on either the entire display, or the current grid.
http://www.nvidia.com/object/quickzoom.html

I really don't know I should do this all that at all. I afraid I miss up my computer :?:

Hey herm I ran into that problem after this last fresh install of xp. I have a copy of xp pro.My product key was invalid used to many times. I thought I was screwed but I found a program that allowed me to make my copy valid and get updates. http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=2745 I can give you the key I used if you like Herm it's the least I can do for all your help :D

I can't argue with Max on this point of all of the security issues with Windows. I had to reinstall due to ANOTHER bad MAXTOR today. I can tell you that if you install all of the updates in perfect order, there are a total as of right now, of 76 that you start with needing to update and as you install updates, more new ones show up. Like I said, if you install them properly, you will have to install a total of 46 updates while having to reboot to save settings 4 times during the install. The trick is to get the SP1 patch first by itself. Do that and it alone takes care of 29 updates. I did not buy another Maxtor as I said, I swore them off last time which was only 4 months ago since I had to rebuild this system. I now have a 120gb Hitachi 7200 rpm ata 100 8mb cache 8.5 milisecond seek time HDD. It was my second choice, the first being a certain Seagate model that wasn't in Texas today. I am very happy with my $90 purchase so far. Boot time after BIOS is 15 seconds. 3DMark scores are the same. This one has a 3 yr warranty and is so silent I have to look at the HDD light in order to tell if it's working on something or not. Good Bye Maxtor!

Strange. It switched back to the old engine for update detection...

I got some passwords if ya need em....I know they work.