AstroSkipper

And what else do you use? A bit more detailed information would be helpful!

@Dave-H I am analyzing the automatic updates applet problem we both have. For me it doesn't matter actually I don't use automatic updates but you know I hate errors in my system. Using HTTPSProxy switched on and setting automatic updates to "Notify but don't automatically download or install them" could you trigger automatic updates by executing command wuauclt /resetauthorization /detectnow under two different conditions? First condition is to execute command proxycfg -u and second condition is to execute command proxycfg -d. Then I would like to ask you to upload a copy of your Windows Update log. PS: And don't be afraid! None of these commands will harm your system.

@ExtremeGrief Without WSUS proxy does automatic updates notification work in your system too?

Thanks for upload of your Windows Update log! As far as I can see in you have used WSUS proxy method to get notification from systray shield. Is that correct? As mentioned above it works in my system too but that's not the problem actually. Only using HTTPSProxy switched on, no WSUS server. Is it then working too? I don't think so.

@maile3241 Could you please provide more detailed information under which conditions and settings you get these notifications in systray? An additional upload of your WindowsUpdate.log would be helpful!

Thanks for information! I already knew that. Using WSUS method Automatic Updates applet works flawlessly. As expected the notification shield appears in systray and reports one urgent update is missing.

@maile3241 You said your automatic updates function is working. In Windows XP? I can' t see that in your screenshots.

I use Glarysoft's Quick Startup. It has a delayed startup feature too. Very good tool and afaik more recent. No, I meant wuauclt /detectnow doesn't work for me too. No notifying of new updates (and in my case there is one), no shield in systray, no entries in event log. Sorry for confusing! It's not my day! Automatic Updates Control Panel applet is not greyed out and can be called up but changing settings by this applet has no effect.

As promised I changed my automatic settings for testing purpose. Searching for updates on MU web site shows one important update is missing but Automatic Updates Control Panel File wuaucpl.cpl doesn't work. No pop up of shield in systray, no entries in event manager. I tried different settings and changed proxy configuration but so far without any success.

Ok, you have HTTPSProxy running all the time. Therefore you can try to enable option Automatically detect settings in LAN settings of Internet Options to ensure that WUA can find your proxy automatically. Run as administrator the command wuauclt /detectnow to check the connection with the Windows Update server. If wuauclt.exe succeeds, Event ID 30 is added in Event Viewer.

@Dave-H Just for you I'll change my automatic updates setting to "Notify me but don't automatically dowload or install them" and report what will happen and if such entries will appear in my event log. You know we've made our systems a bit comparable.

One thing is clear. The mentioned updates are for Windows XP Embedded and definitely not for Server 2003. So that won't work. and truth be told a bit off-topic.

I disabled automatic updates a long time ago. I thought this app would use IE engine to check for updates. So actually you had to keep HTTPSProxy running generally. I think you don't really want to do that. Therefore disable automatic updates! Unfortunately there will be no more updates in future. But since restoring MU you can check manually for updates at any time.

Microsoft had changed a lot in the past. Maybe they had switched back to old ciphers in this short time in Dezember.

Due to the fact that in Windows XP (and 2000 too) you can only use IE or IE engine to access to MU and the ciphers of IE are outdated you have to use ProxHTTPSProxy or HTTPSProxy to add modern, more recent ciphers to IE or IE engine. Therefore is the answer from my point of view: No!

You're welcome! Did you add HTTPSProxy and ProxHTTPSProxy to MalwareBytes' exclusions list? I have excluded them in Avast.

In my Windows XP system Avast Premier is the main security solution in combination with Windows 10 Firewall Control XP. Avast works perfectly but the web protection causes in a lot of cases an huge loss of speed especially while surfing, connecting via VPN or downloading files although a lot of exclusions have been made by me. In such cases switching off web protection is the only way to have full speed again. The older the computer is, the greater the loss. And my computer running Windows XP is 21 years old.

@Dave-H Great! I'm glad your system has got back all features you wanted to have.

Here: Just to clarify: 360Chrome = 360 Extreme Explorer

The proxy has a lot to do. Checking web sites, generating cerificates, comparing web site addresses with config.ini settings and so on. Poor proxy! And there might be another cause for such loss of speed. You're running Mwarebytes 3.5.1.2522. It has a web filter function and this might cause such loss of speed either. Switch off web control function and do your speed test once again!

But for these purposes only speed doesn't matter. Isn't it?

I do have that too and that's absolutely normal. A lot of programs have one main instance calling up a second one probably with different tasks. For example 360Chrome does the same. First 360Loader.exe calling up 360chrome.exe calling up a second instance of 360chrome.exe and more of them. Of course there are a lot of proxies slowing down speed. Due to the fact that I use these proxies for Internet Explorer access or Internet Explorer engine access only it doesn't matter for me.

@Dave-H This can be answered easily. It depends on what the user has done when installing ProxHTTPSProxy CA certficate. If you import ProxHTTPSProxy CA certficate by clicking right mouse button it'll be installed under Trusted Root Certification Authority but for current user. If you import ProxHTTPSProxy CA certficate by using Microsoft Management Console mmc or Internet Options Control Panel applet selecting "show physical stores" of IE you've got the option to point to Trusted Root Certification Authority but for local computer. Therefore all of us installed that certificate under Trusted Root Certification Authority physical store but some of us under account current user and others under account local computer. This is the reason why heinoganda's ProxHTTPS Cert Installer is working for all of us. His installer imports due to automatical selection the certificate PROXCERT.p7b (other format of this certificate) correctly but of course installing the old well known certificate valid until 2025 only. This installer is a modified Roots Certificates Update installer and you know these certificates it has to install are added under account local computer generally. Furthermore there is a general positive effect for those loving Windows XP (and 2000 or Vista). If correctly integrated into the system we are all now able to use a freshly generated 10 years valid root certificate of ProxHTTPSProxy or HTTPSProxy as long as Windows XP, Internet Explorer access to WWW, TLS 1.2 functionality, Microsoft Update for Windows XP or the user himself still exists.

As @maile3241 already said opening of ProxHTTPSProxy.exe generates automatically a new CA.crt if none is in its program folder. But first you have to delete all certificates in certs subfolder and update your cacert.pem as described in document file.

You're absolutely right! Talking and philosophizing about a problem you haven't got in your own system is contraproductive. So I produced the problem you all had got and could analyze what was going on. The best way someone can have. Btw I installed ProxHTTPSProxy 3e (you can remember!) for testing purpose and it is working perfectly.