Flashing cursor - Auto update

I am running Windows ME on a Dell Dimension L desktop.

Whever I have Windows Automatic Update activated, at some point my cursor starts flashing. I believe it happens when it wants to look for updates and it can't. If I turn Automatic Update off, the flashing stops, but at some point it gets turned back on again by itself and the problem reoccurs.

I think I may have messed up something in my MSCONFIG startup group. I tried to deactivate all automatic tasks to make ME run better, so I deactivated some tasks in MSCONFIG. I then ran MSConfig CleanUp and it deleted everything that wasn't activated. I went back in and manually reentered the SchedulingAgent (mstask.exe) in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

It shows up in the MSCONFIG startup window as checked, but I don't see it running in the Close Program window when I do a Ctrl/Alt/Delete

When I have the flashing cursor, if I do a Ctrl/Alt/Delete I see an entry <unknown> and if I do an End Task on it, the flashing stops.

Anyone have any ideas either how to keep Automatic Update from running, or fix it so it works properly?

Thanks
Rich

 

Here's the info on my system:
Computer:
Operating System Microsoft Windows ME
OS Service Pack -
DirectX 4.09.00.0904 (DirectX 9.0c)

Motherboard:
CPU Type Intel Celeron, 800 MHz (8 x 100)
Motherboard Name Intel Cayman CA810 (4 PCI, 2 DIMM, Audio, Video)
Motherboard Chipset Intel Whitney i810
System Memory 512 MB (SDRAM)
BIOS Type AMI (03/07/01)
Communication Port Communications Port (COM1)
Communication Port ECP Printer Port (LPT1)
Display:
Video Adapter Intel(R) 82810 Graphics Controller
3D Accelerator Intel i752
Monitor Dell E770s [17" CRT] (2010V14ABY69)

Partitions:
C: (FAT32) 19083 MB (6083 MB free)