You may be unable to access the Windows Update website from Windows XP, Windows 2000 or Windows Server 2003 if those versions of Windows are not updated to the latest Service Pack

When you try to scan for and install updates on a Windows XP, Windows 2000 or Windows Server 2003-based computer, you may be unable to access the Windows Update website successfully.

This issue can occur if your version of Windows is no longer compatible with the Windows Update website.

To resolve this issue, install the latest Service pack (SP).

• Windows XP: The latest Service pack is Service Pack 3 (SP3)
• Windows 2000: The latest Service pack is Service Pack 4 (SP4)
• Windows 2003: The latest Service pack is Service Pack 2 (SP2)

Important: If you are seeing this KB article and you already installed the latest Service Pack, please follow the steps in the More Information section:

For more information about how to obtain the latest SP for your version of Windows, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Windows XP:Windows 2000:Windows Server 2003:

After you installed the latest Service pack, we recommend that you enable Automatic Updates and do a self-update right away. To do this automatically , go to the "Fix it for me" section. If you prefer to enable Automatic Updates and do a self-update right away yourself, go to the "Let me fix it myself" section.

Fix it for me

To enable Automatic Updates and do a self-update right away automatically, click the Fix it button or link. Then click Run in the File Download dialog box, and follow the steps in the Fix it wizard.




Notes

• The Fix it solution will not work if you do not have the latest Service Pack installed (SP3 for 32-bit version Windows XP, SP2 for 64-bit Windows XP)  
• The Fix it solution will turn on Automatic Updates in your computer, if you do not wish to leave Automatic Updates turned on, please refer to the section to change the setting.
• This wizard may be in English only. However, the automatic fix also works for other language versions of Windows.
• If you are not on the computer that has the problem, save the Fix it solution to a flash drive or a CD and then run it on the computer that has the problem.

Then, go to the "Did this fix the problem?" section.

Let me fix it myself

Step 1: Close all programs running on your computer:
Close any programs that you have running on your computer including any Internet Explorer or other web browser windows and then continue to step 2.


Step 2: Make sure that Automatic Updates is enabled, to do this, follow these steps:

To enable Automatic Updates, follow the steps below:

1. Click Start, click Run, type sysdm.cpl, and click OK
2. Click the Automatic Updates tab
3. Click Automatic (Recommended) and then click OK

Step 3: Ensure a self-update happens right away:

1. Click Start, click Run, type cmd and click OK
2. Type the following command in the command window and press the Enter key on your keyboard:
   
   wuauclt /detectnow

Note: If you do not wish to leave Automatic Updates turned on, you can repeat the steps in Step 1 and the set Automatic Updates to one of the following:

• Download updates for me, but let me choose when to install them.
• Notify me but don't automatically download or install them.
• Turn off Automatic Updates.

Important: Microsoft recommends that you leave Automatic Updates turned on to help you keep your computer up to date.

If you still can not access the Windows Update website, try to download the latest version of Windows Update Agent from the following Microsoft Website: 

Did this fix the problem?

• Check whether the problem is fixed. If the problem is fixed, you are finished with this section. If the problem is not fixed, you can contact support (http://support.microsoft.com/contactus) .
• We would appreciate your feedback. To provide feedback or to report any issues with this solution, please leave a comment on the "Fix it for me (http://blogs.technet.com/fixit4me/) " blog or send us an email (mailto:fixit4me@microsoft.com?Subject=KB) .