couldn't tell you if I do or don't. I do keep my video drivers and bios updates courtesy of asus though.
yeah.. ie9 should probably never have been reccomended. not sure why it was. it's not like I logged onto the wus site and searched for it.. it was a pop up bubble from updater in my system tray..

deffinately a MS 'fail' issue there..
Soundguy,
As I mentioned last night IE-9 was not meant to be compatible with XP.
Microsoft is promoting it strongly but as you see on
Internet Explorer - Web Browser for Microsoft Windows
they are very specific to show that it is only for Vista and W-7.
You made us curious about Windows Updates so I cranked up my old pc that has a legal, registered XP on it. The first thing that happened, from clicking Windows Update from the start menu was that the site checked for their latest version of Updater. It always does that even if you go back there during the same session. You must have Active-X turned on for it to work.
Since I hadn't been there for awhile it offered 9 important updates and 4 optional. None of them offered or suggested IE-9. They were mainly security updates for IE-8. I went back again after the install and reboot but there were no more available.
Since you were having such a public snort about your problem it would be helpfull to know if you purchased your pad new or used? There are lots of bogus copies of the operating systems out there, even on new equipment if you buy it too cheap. Windows update shouldn't allow any updates though unless a hack has made them think the system is legal. I am not accusing you of any foul play, just wondering what caused your problem?
I would suggest that you go to Windows Update now from your start menu and see if IE-9 is offered to that equipment since you are now back on IE-8.
You sound computer savy so should be able to enlighten us all so we can learn the best path to take on computers still running XP.
Automatic update is normally configured so that your equipment checks for updates at a certain time but it does not automatically download and install them. It just pops up, as you say, the next time you turn it on.
Why did it offer IE-9 to XP is the real question?
Ron