MS and/or Windows updates!

I suspect you have all been through this: You have updates notice, you begin the download, then the installation, only to discover the installation failed. Then you start jumping through hoops, you search the problem, find a fix on tech forums somewhere (uninstall this, reinstall this, enter this dll, etc.). Well a few days ago I install the new IE7 version (I really only use Ff and I wonder why?!) and for the next few days the update icon appears in the notification area (for security update KB.....43). I initiate the download and it goes away, only to reappear after the next boot. Installations from the update site also prove unsuccessful and indeed the log file shows all these failures. I have updates configured to notify me only, so I figure maybe if I just change it to auto it would work (never had to do that , however). Well when I went to change my settings there was the option to use Windows update instead of MS update, I selected that and to my amazement the update went off flawlessly! So now when I check the update page there is this typical MS add for "NEW Get Microsoft Update Now". So my question is: do I stay with Windows update and what do you all use?

 

Last I used one, it was Microsoft Update. I no longer use it since I integrate updates into my XP CD.

 

I recently re-installed my computer from scratch, because I needed a collection of clean images.
The installation was based on my original WinXPproSP2 Installation CD, which I bought in March 2006.

I executed Windows Update on a test image and I have an arrear of 83 updates according Windows Update and it doubled the volume of my test image.

I still have doubts if I need these updates or not.
I always reboot in the SAME system partition, because my frozen system partition doesn't allow any change and that keeps all the objects, installed on my system partition, CLEAN and working properly : registry, folders and files.

So why do I need this Windows Update, when I always reboot in an unchanged system partition
If I do Windows Update, the volume of my system partition will increase with 50% and my computer will be slower.

 

The uninstall files [to uninstall the updates] in the Windows folder pile up to hundreds of MB in a short time,i always delete these files because its almost never needed.I guess the updates themself are small in comparison

 

With nLite'ned XP, you could probably whittle that list down a little more. WMP, MSN-mess, IE7, OE and the like, are a fair amount of patches...or is that the thinned-out number