I've installed XP pro from scratch, installed SP2, AntiVir Guard & Microsoft
Antispyware, ensured Windows firewall is active & THEN connected to the
internet for the first time, registered Win XP and logged onto MS update
site. 30 critical updates were installed at once and the PC was restarted as
prompted. When the welcome screen is about to come on, the computer goes back
to POST and this continues to do this in a loop. I've tried the F8 key, all
the options from there lead to the same outcome - reboot - even Safe Mode
Command Prompt Only. I've booted from the installation CD and replaced the
kernel32.dll with the original on the CD through recovery console - Still no
joy. I again booted with the CD and this time chose the 'let windows attempt
to repair the existing installation'. After a while replacing a multitude of
system files, I got a fatal error 'Setup failed to install the product
catalogs'. It then goes on to something about not being able to do something
with SP2.cat and then about an invalid update signature. Setup cannot then
continue. This is the second time the system has done this - the first time,
I was possibly connected to the internet a while before I got adequate
security in place. This time, I'm happy that my PC was secure (apart from the
vulnerabilities the security updates patch up).

Thing is, someone I know rang me out of the blue today to tell me they had
the exact same problem on their machine & could I help them. It seems that
this could be something many people are having trouble with.

Could a redirected rogue update site be to blame or is it a compatibility
problem does anyone know?

I was considering removing the hard disk from one of the machines and
running a virus scan. Before I do, does anyone know what the problem is as
the disk is a pain in the backside to get to in the non-working machine!

Is there any way of running scanreg without windows booting (not even into
safe mode command prompt only)?

Is anyone else having the same problem?

Thanks.