Vista - Windows Update - Admin problems

I tried using Windows Update i.e. the website to install Vista SP1 as the
standalone installer is a honkin' 450+ MB in size... so I hit the site, it
tells me to use IE instead of FireFox. Ok, I open it in IE and download some
ActiveX plugin.. then it tells me I need to be an Administrator. I AM an
administrator!! the only one!! tried it from a freshly-created Admin account
and no use there too. Since it's Home Basic, I can't access lusrmgr.msc. Can
anybody shed some light? Thanks for your time!

System: PAckard Bell EasyNote, Core Duo 2.2 with 1GB RAM, ATI Xpress 200M,
Vista Home Basic

Hello.

Try this. Right click on the IE icon in the startup menu, then select "run as administrator". This may solve your issue.

Yes, I did try that. Only thing it did was screw up my system, but good.
Basically my broadband stopped working. Apps like uTorrent, Limewire, gTalk
and Skype worked fine, but I could not use Firefox or IE to actually access
any sites. Pinged a few major servers - strangely enough, everything replied
except microsoft.com. After a reboot, all ping gave me was a "General
Failure" error - even to localhost.

Did everything - reset my ADSL router, rebooted, reinstalled, called my ISP
and nothing worked until I did a System Restore. I guess I'll just wait until
it's released as a general update.