This isn't really travel-related except that I will face the same problem when I update my 3rd computer in Europe next month.

I've had Automatic Updates turned off on all my computers (2 XP Pro, 1 XP Home, all SP2) for at least 2 years.

Yesterday I went to the MS Update website, installed all the latest security patches (EXCEPT KB977165) and rebooted both computers. Everything ran normally.

This morning at startup (very slow on both computers), I discovered that Automatic Updates had been turned on and was downloading updates. I immediately turned them off via the Security Center, but the WAUS service continued to show in the Task List (using lots of memory) until I rebooted.

Now at logon I'm getting an annoying your-computer-may-be-vulnerable notification.

Has anyone else had this problem? Does anyone know which patch is causing it? I assure you that I did not make the change, either on the MS website or on my computers.

Is there any way to get rid of the notification except by hiding the icon?

I'd appreciate any advice as I really don't want to have to deal with this again when I'm abroad.