ggardiner, I am also doing the same. No more automatic updating for me. I am only installing important updates at this time. I also am updating Office the same way. I wonder why MS is pushing SP1 when it is full of bugs, just like Vista was when it came out. (still is in my opinion) I got this Vista machine the very week of the release. At that time there were no XP machines available, but now I see them all the time advertised by the electronic chain stores
