all around updates problem

When i try going to Microsoft Update, i get to the page where i'm supposed to
install a new ActiveX Control, but no security tab appears, and so i can't
get any further.
When I go to Windows Update, the computer gets stalled on the checking your
system, and then I get Error number: 0x8DDD0004.
When I check my WindowsUpdate.log file, i see an 0x8024001b error.
Nothing adds up. I defined all the sites as trusted on IE, and also on my
ZoneAlarm. I even tried clean booting without ZA or Nod32 AV, but nothing
seems to help.
Any suggestions?