I am in a similar position to Bazile - below.... My 3 year old HP died recently....so now I am using a DELL that my ex had used for business purposes...it has WindowsXP Professional installed - copyright 1985-2001....so is quite old. If I install Automatic Update....will all necessary servicepacks then be installed ?...Or do I need to go to the Microsoft website to do so? I had looked at the download instructions for Servicepack 3....and all the warnings and cautions about it possibly not working put me off. Also....as I only use it for surfing and emails,etc...do I need to backup...I assumed this was relevant only for business purposes.