Just wanted to follow up with some other notes:

I originally thought this was a microsoft problem because I found a thread
elsewhere where someone with ZoneAlarm had the same problem -- getting
socket errors after logging off of XP and back io again.

Also, like many of you, disabling the Norton Firewall, Virus Scanner and
Mail Scanner (all three disabled in different parts of the UI) did not help.

However, I now think (like many of you) that it is primarily an issue with
an april update to Norton Internet Security (or maybe an NIS update in
conjunction with a MSFT update.)

Here's why I think Norton gets some of the blame:

1. I removed all MSFT patches from April one by one. No joy.

2. I reinstalled all MSFT patches.

3. I removed NIS 2006. JOY!

4. I reinstalled NIS, but did not let it update itself. STILL JOY!

5. I let NIS run Live Update -- PROBLEM RETURNS

I have contacted Symatec, and asked them for a solution that does NOT
involve upgrading to NIS 2007, which severely changes functionality of
features I use (parental controls). It has been 1 week - no reply from
Symantec.

Because of the sequence of steps listed above, I do not think having the
Norton firewall on while windows update was running contributed to the
problem.

By the way, like some of you, I was unable to perform a system restore. I
think I must have installed a patch that is not removable during that time
frame.