Hi Gareth7, Looks like you've been having a difficult time with a particularly difficult set of computer system problems. I've wrestled with Vista Update problems several times with several different excellent machines. Vista won the argument in about 1/2 of the instances. Meaning that Vista refused to Update, and refused even its own repair routines related to updates. In fact, though some awesome folks from MS Technet have lent their expertise, some of the instances of Vista Update have evaded even their help. Sorry to bring that possibly bad news. Now, one more thing. With regard to your Vista Home Basic operating system. This operating system was used for a period of time with Laptops and Netbooks in order to give the Vista experience without bogging down the resources of a Laptop or Netbook. And in most instances it does a fine job. The difficult point is that Vista Home Basic is no longer available in the US and many developed nations, even from MS directly. The Good News, is that the Laptop manufacturer will almost certainly be able to provide Factory Original installation DVD for your system, if you contact them. The installation media will cost a modest fee. Here in the US it is about $30. I highly recommend that you obtain this from the manufacturer of your laptop. Now… Onwards and upwards. We "could" continue to attack the file system corruption, the update failure, and the persistence of files related to Commodo. However, since you have your important files backed up, it may be more sensible to order installation Media and get a fresh start. In my experience it has usually taken less than one week from time of ordering the installation dvd until it is delivered via postal service. Please let us know how you would like to proceed. Best Regards