This is probably a dummy question for someone nearly a term into an advanced W2K systems and networking course and I am too embarrassed to ask my teacher or fellow students!

In ME and 9x I could always capture and save updates so that if I needed to reinstall Windows I did not need to download them again - the Virtual Machine and DirectX being an example of large files boring to keep downloading.

However, in XP I cannot find where the files go so that I can capture and save them. I have done a complete search in every part of Windows and its folders both during and after the Windows Update process and in Program Files.

This is really annoying me and I feel so stupid