Just reinstalled the OS for a friend on her computer, needs a new modem still. The line speeds out there in the hills are 26k typically, 33k on a good day. Is there anyway to download the Windows updates and burn them to a cd without having to wade thru M$'s site. Any shortcuts at all? This lady's computer isn't going to make it thru days and days of downloads without getting hammered...thanks!

Sure. But there are a few that have to be installed from the Windows Update site anyway, so do them when you can and reboot the system. Internet Explorer Navigation Sound Update = 78K Windows ME Universal Plug and Play Update = 221K Windows Movie maker Update = 449K It is also best if you install the System Restore fix first, and do it from the update site if you can. System Restore - 290700 = 291K --- Then find yourself a broadband connected system. And start by downloading the IE6 SP1 setup program and run it, select the Minimal or customize option. Next window click Advaced.. button, then select Download Only. Save it in its own folder. This folder then can be copied to a CD and used to install IE 6 sp1 (and Outlook and media player updates) on a system by running ie6setup. Next download DirectX 9.0c Redistributable package and save it on the CD. This large 34MB download can then be ran to create a work folder with the setup files in it. Run the Setup program from this work folder, when off line and after disabling Anti-Virus program and firewall to avoid problems that can occur while on line. Then go to the Download Center and download from the extended list: MDAC 2.8 (if needed) Then run this EXE file from the system to install it. This allows you to get three of the largest important updates installed from a CD. Do those first. Next it gets a little more complicated getting the rest of the updates, as you have to download ALL of them and then find and sort out the ones you need. (Fear not, I have already sorted out the names of the files you need to find.) Create a C:\UPDATE folder on your broadband connected system. Then go to the Windows Update site page. Click "Personalize Windows Update" option and check the box by "Display the link to the Windows Update Catalog under See Also" and then click "Save Settings" button. Then under "See Also" you can access the "Windows Update Catalog" page. There click "Find updates for Microsoft Windows operating systems" line. On the next page, scroll down to the "Windows Millennium Edition" and select it, then click "Search". On the following page will be a window with different groups of updates. Click on each of the lists and ADD all of items, except any you are sure you don't want to download (like the specific language versions of DotNet). Then "Go to Download Basket. It will ask you where to save them. Point it to the C:\UPDATES folder you created. This will take some time, even on a broadband connected system. When done downloading, the work begins. Dig down into the deep directory structure created and find all of the following files and copy them to the CD. You want to run them about in the following order in groups and then reboot. First find the "290700.exe" file for System Restore. Run (if not done from download site) and reboot afterward. Next locate the folder with "bootstrap.inf in it. Copy these files to a folder on the CD. Run it by selecting the bootstrap.inf file and then INSTALL to install The Automatic Updates fix. Reboot afterward. Then find these files and place on the CD. You can run all of them manually one after another to install them directly from the CD. (Where ... in the following is long file names I don't want to type out for you, the numbers are key to finding them.) IE6sp1 updates (these may change if newer available) 833989.exe 889293.exe CRITICAL 273017.exe - IDE Hard Drive Cache rootsupd.exe - Root Certificates setup.exe - Euro Conversion Tool 273991.exe - Share Level Password 811630USAM.exe - HTML fix W...828026...exe - MediaPlayer Script W...870669...exe - ADODB.Stream kill bit wn9codecs.exe - MediaPlayer Codecs Reboot. SECURITY wm308567.exe - MS01-056 812709USAM.exe - MS03-006 js55mem.exe - MS03-008 814078 JavaScript 5.5 js56mem.exe - MS03-008 814078 JavaScript 5.6 msjavwu.exe - MS03-011 816093 MS VM update 823559USAM.exe - MS03-023 HTML Buffer Overrun 323172_ME.exe - Digital Certificate Deletion 323255_ME.exe - Unchecked HTML buffer 329048_ME.exe - Unchecked Decompression Buffer 329115_ME.exe - Certificate Identity Spoofing MDAC_TYPE.exe - MDAC 2.8 825119USAM.exe - MS03=044 Help buffer overrun 840315USAM.exe - MS04-023 HTML Code Exec. 890175USAM.exe - MS05-001 1/10/2005 Reboot. DOT_NET dotnetfx.exe - .NET Framework v1.1 ***optional Reboot. NP.867460.exe - .NET Framework v1.1 sp1 Reboot. (Selected Windows Media Player update 8/9 of your choice. I don't recommend them myself, so finding the right one(s) are up to you.) When done installing all of the above, go back to the Windows Update site and see what it lists. There may be a few I/you missed, some that did not install for some reason, and new ones. In summary. Install the System Restore fix first if you can. Then the Windows Automatic Update fix. Then Install IE6s1 setup, reboot and install the two IE6sp1 updates. Then DirectX 9.0c. Then the Critical group, reboot, the Security group and reboot. Save the DotNet if you want them. They are optional at the present time. Then go to the Windows Update site and get the remaining ones list above and any Windows Media updates. You may want to take a copy of the whole C:\UPDATES folder with you on a CD in case the configuration requires some that are not on my lists. But its directory structure is so deep that you may not be able to copy it to a CD as the path and file names of parts of it exceed what is supported by the CD directory structure.

*grin* On speeds like that.. you may as well wait the 7 days it takes to deliver the FREE upgrade CD that Microsft puts out. You dont even pay postage. It does all major upgrades and securuty updates to feb 2004. Just search it up at MS and they send it to you for you to keep and treasure and loan to all yer relatives. *W* A computer is a perfectionist's nightmare.