Turn off the WinXP firewall, get Tweak XP, Tweak UI for XP.
just a lil grab outta the closet of
"How to make XP work better without sending my records to MS"
PS, ( dunno if iys allowed tho :s ) Even a cracked XP can be updated through the site. All you gotta have is 1 single file. I will not go tell what it is cuz of my stance to illegal software
But MS aint protected it as good as they say. ( which we could all see from the recent MS Blasterworm And i did not got him hehehehe. )