Sam654 this problem is with win update not related to and hardware it's famous problem with windows update but if he uses XP SP2 and upgraded IE7 to IE8 with standalone as I used to that will work for him then he can install updates to windows
but becareful there is security update for IE cause this problem to it's (KB947864)
by the way this problem can be caused if you have firewall or antivirus
if all of the above didn't work try to uninstall your antivirus and if internet works install it again and see what happens