Ed, this is to "the rest of the list", (as a warning), as much as to you...

Turning off "the Firewall" -AND- being on the Internet is something I
would never do!  (JMHO, and YMMV.) You did not mention a Router,
or any type of hardware firewall...  (YMWV.)

"People say" you can get hacked in seconds, or less than 4 minutes.
I don't have links ready (here and now) to prove that...
My neighbor tried a re-install "a number of times" a year or two ago
(pre-SP2) and became a firm believer! (He got trashed 3 or 4 times
until he installed a Firewall before connecting to the Internet...)

I would suggest - instead - to turn off only the AV, (if you must), and
add the MS site as a "trusted site" instead.  If you had trouble with MS
Update, it could have been caused by having/using GOOD Security settings.
(I mean settings you "should have" when you are at "other places".)

As far as the rest of your question, I have no quick answers since you
may already be running a hacked computer...

                                                 Rick Glazier

From: "Ed Matthews"
>I've been accustomed to temporarily disabling my antivirus
>and firewall software before going to http://update.microsoft.com
>(Microsoft Update Service) and up until now I've had no problems.

        The NOSPIN Group has added a new feature on our website,
           web based bulletinboard for questions and answers:
              Visit our sister website at http://nospin.com