Looks like my computer is doing a windows update. I didn't ask it to (I don't have automatic updates turned on), but I guess this is WinXP SP2 installing itself. I'm a bit pissed off that it didn't even tell me it was going to install something -- it just appeared as an icon in the notification area.
If it suddenly pops up a dialog asking me to reset the computer (or worse, does it for me without asking), I'll be going back to Linux. Imagine getting a sudden popup asking you to reset your computer; if you didn't notice the thing installing, an inexperienced user will probably think it was a virus like blaster. The question is, would they be wrong?
Update:
The mysterious update appears to have stopped downloading at 47%. There is no internet activity. There appears to be no way to cancel or restart the download (no context menu, nothing happens when I double-click it). I will have to wait a while then try to end the process, I guess. How is an ordinary, non-technical user supposed to deal with this?
Second Update:
Okay, I ended the process. The icon disappeared and then immediately reappeared. That's cheating! On the plus side, it now seems to be at 48% (and it's only been two hours to get that extra 1%).
What is really getting on my nerves is that I'm moving tomorrow. This computer probably won't touch the internet again for a long time (possibly years, as I will be using computers at uni). I really needed to spend this time downloading the programs and websites that I will need so they can be used offline, and not worrying about whether this weird update will go away or not.