MS10-046 breaks Windows Explorer

Hi, I'm running WinXP, SP3. Yesterday I applied the newest patch when I shut down. Now when I boot up, it tells me Windows recovered from a serious error. Then it said Windows Explorer crashed and had to be restarted. Now it seems to keep restarting Win Explorer every few seconds, since my task bar with the notification area disappears and reappears briefly on my screen. If I try to open any application in the start menu I have to be fast or it will disappear on me. This persists after I log off and log back on again. I suspect I should apply the last system restore point. After that I should try to apply the update again? I'm just not optimistic, I believe the problem will be there after, and if I roll back, leaving it rolled back, I'll be vulnerable to exploits. I'm running Avast (MSE wouldn't install for me) and SpywareBlaster, and browse with Chrome most of the time. Any tips would be greatly appreciated

Hi Mr.Mystery, The OS behavior you describe sounds like Melware behavior. You should really re-post in the Melware section first to make absolutely sure it is/isn't a Melware issue. Cheers; Lee