[RMadd]

Alright, here's the deal: I've been having some hardcore-crazy problems with Microsoft lately. I'm looking for anyone who has answers or potential solutions, so if you're merely looking to rant against Microsoft, please don't.
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Going back about 3 weeks ago, I started having problems with my Windows XP Home. It seems as though a couple of important files (namely ctfmon.exe) had gone missing or been inadvertently deleted. In light of this problem, I elected to repair my installation. To do this, however, I needed to roll back SP2 (my installation disc, from Spring 2003, has SP1). So I dutifully did this, figuring it would be no problem to download again.

The repair of the OS seemed to go fine. I no longer have any problems with any of the formerly missing files (ctfmon is there and works like a charm). So that left me to download SP2 so that everything would be just like old times. So I went to Microsoft's website to locate a download of SP2. Windowsupdate.microsoft.com is the site which I'm evidently supposed to use. Now, because I use Mozilla Firefox to surf the web, it demanded I use Internet Explorer to access the site. I figured this wasn't much of a problem, just Microsoft being picky about people using their inferior products.

So, I click on the link that opens up the site in IE. I go thru the first step or two in the site, before it gets to the point where it checks my license agreements. After starting that process, it checks to see if I have the latest version of Windows updating software (which, technically, I don't, since I don't yet have SP2!). I also get an Application Error for IE: "The instruction at '0x77f559e6' referenced memory at '0x3049dfdf'. The memory could not be 'read'." Even if I try to debug, it closes after a few moments. So I'm pretty much stuck when it comes to downloading SP2 right then.

Next option? Perhaps download IE again, or reinstall, or try and uninstall? Unless there's some secret way, I can't find a means to actually uninstall IE. I am able to download IE6 (w/ SP1)--using Firefox, incidentally. But when I actually try to install it, it won't let me because I already have a later version of IE (6.0.2800.1106). And, again, there seems to be no means of actually rolling back the software to an earlier version. So, instead of being able to reinstall IE, which would hopefully allow me to continue in the SP2 download process, I'm again stuck.

My next option appeared to be to have someone else download SP2 for me and send it to me. So I had my girlfriend do that, and she emailed me all that had been downloaded: namely, a folder titled "i386." Now, I've heard of this folder before, but in it, there's a shitload of files, a faaaaar greater number than in the i386 folder in the WINDOWS folder. On top of that, I can't find any text documents or anything in that folder that indicate how to go about installing it. So I'm left to think that, perhaps Microsoft didn't intend for it to be installed in that manner. So I'm apparently missing some installer or something. Plus, my girlfriend has been having troubles with IE (different from my own problems) the past few days, such that it won't work at all, meaning that I'm pretty much stuck.

That appears to leave me with the only alternative (as email and telephone support cost $35!) of ordering SP2 on CD (luckily, it's free, and the only charge is shipping). Only problem is, it's a 4-6 week wait, meaning I won't get it until late February or mid-March. So that sucks. But if anyone has any suggestions or sees anything that might be flawed in my approach or process, I'm open to any suggestions.