Maybe someone can help me here.

I have a compac lap top that is running XP pro. I bought  originaly the windows license to install in a Gateway machine. Results that the Gateway is not running any more, that is why I installed the XP in the compac. It results that I want to update to the new version of Internet explorer, but every time when the windows update try to install the the software, every time that the installation does not work. Any one have an Idea how can I do to up finaly have the IE updated?.

Thanks any way

Does anything else update via Windows Update? If not, you might have a validation problem in XP.  Is it patched and up to date?

Is this IE7?  Look for IE in the Add/Remove Programs area in the Control Panel and uninstall IE7 and re-install it -- being sure to reboot immediately afterward.  There is a known issue out there.  If you can't find it in Control Panel, look for C:\WINDOWS\ie7\spuninst\spuninst.exe and run that to uninstall IE7.  Then re-install.  If you reboot immediately after, it should upgrade properly.