Dear Niemiro:
The subsequent *.zip files are the most current files on this computer. It seems very strange that the pending.xml file vanished and Windows Update became functioning again. It is almost as if the computer has a poltergeist! If you please eval the info sent and let me know if this thing should be released back into the wild (back to my gamer friend ...LOL) it would greatly be appreciated. If not, what are the next steps? Thank you so much in advance for all your help.
Shawn :)