Windows Update

Running XP Pro SP1, the online Update software doesn't
work. The web page loads (with the new redirect to
v5.windowsupdate site), states it's "Checking for the
latest version of the Windows Update Software" then
nothing, no checking, no searching, nothing. The page just
sits there, forever (at least for 10 minutes; I lost
patience). After a recent XP Repair (following a Symantec
NSW disaster), the page loaded and reported it was loading
the new Update software; the process proceeded to
the "100% ... " point, then, again, nothing. Is there a
Registry value I need to tweak? Or some applet that's been
lost? Or is there another site from which I can download
the new Update software? A perhaps related problem is that
the Automatic Update page in System Properties apparently
doesn't exist anymore. When I click that tab, the window
freezes for a time without showing the Automatic Update
page, then closes after a long wait when I click the "x".