@Choto Cheeta
Yesterday, I tried the solution you provided, many times. It did not work.
But mysteriously, today the Microsoft Updates is working properly.
I think, but not sure, it worked cos I installed the Microsoft Updates ActiveX control thru Firefox by using a plugin called IE Tab (which allows IE specific pages like Windowsupdate.com to open in Firefox) instead of instaling thru IE itself.
I'm not sure this is the reason.
And I'm not willing to try again & experiment. Don't wanna mess up something that's working fine now after a long time.
Anyone else is more than welcome to try my solution. But no guarantees.
In case it works, do post the result.