Can't boot after patch update

I built a computer about a month ago and it worked fine until last week when I started seeing errors such as xxx.dll is either not designed to run on Windows or it contains an error. I was not able to get rid of the errors and thought that the computer had a virus. I was using CA Internet Security as it was provided free of charge by my Internet Service Provider. It all went downhill after that as the computer would no longer boot. I tried running the Start up Recovery to no avail. It said that it could not repair the problem.

Since I could not recover from the problems, I reinstalled Windows. I did not do a clean install, rather it moved my personal files from the old windows installation to a folder named Windowsold. The computer worked fine until I rebooted it after installing the video driver. Same problems as before - Start up Recovery could not resolve the issue. I started with a command prompt and noticed that the C drive was empty and Windows 7 was installed on the D drive. I don't understand how that happened because I did not tell Windows which drive letter to use during installation, nor does it even ask for that information.

I then did a clean install by deleting the two partitions (100MB system on partition 1 and the rest of my drive on partition 2). I installed the mother board drivers, video drivers, and purchased Norton 360 and Norton Utilities. I checked in Windows Explorer for the drive that Windows was installed on. It was installed on the C drive. The computer rebooted fine all day and I thought the problems were resolved once and for all.

Uh, not quite. I could not boot the computer this morning after Windows did an update at 3:00 am last night. I booted using Start up Recovery, opened a command window, and lo and behold, the C drive was empty and Windows was once again in the D drive.

Does anyone know what is causing this strange behavior? Norton scanned my drive and found no problems.

Thank you!

Thanks for your reply, bigmck. The computer will not boot into Windows right now. When I boot, a message is displayed that Startup Repair cannot repair this computer automatically. When I close that window, the options are View diagnostic and repair details and View advanced options for system recovery and support. The diagnostic and repair details says:

System Disk = \Device\Harddisk0
Windows directory = D:\Windows
AutoChk Run = 0
Number of root causes = 1

Then there are several tests performed that passed. Further down, it says Root cause found: A patch is preventing the system from starting.

Repair action: System files integrity check and repair
Result: Failed. Error code = 0x2
Time taken = 3244 ms

Then way at the bottom it says Boot status indicates that the OS booted successfully.

If I select View advanced options for system recovery and support, I get the following choices after selecting the country, time, etc:

Startup Repair
System Restore
System Image Recovery
Windows Memory Diagnostic
Command Prompt

I tried to do a restore, but Windows did not save a restore point before doing the update last night. I will have to check the settings when I get the computer running again to make sure that it creates a Restore point before every automatic update.

Do you know a way to get the Disk Management information from where I am or will I need to reinstall Windows yet again?

Thank you,

Sorry, I didn't explain well. I was not able to boot Windows. I opened a command prompt through the advanced options for system recovery and support link. The only thing visible at that point was a command window where I can enter DOS commands. I typed dir c: and the disk was empty. I typed dir d: and all the windows files were there. I could not figure out how to recover from this so I reinstalled Windows once again. I installed the motherboard drivers, Norton 360, and the video drivers. Windows installed three updates. I rebooted and the system came up fine and Windows is installed on the C drive. I downloaded 52 recommended/important updates. It failed on two updates. The computer would not boot but I was able to boot by going back to a Restore point. Then I ran a full scan with Norton. It found only 14 tracking cookies, which I removed. Norton said the computer needed to reboot. I checked in Disk Management to make sure that Windows was installed on C before rebooting. The computer will not boot again. I went to Startup recovery and opened a command prompt. The C drive is empty and Windows is once again on the D drive. The D:\Windows\system folder is empty. I can't help but think there's a very aggressive virus on the hard drive, but why can't Norton detect it and why doesn't a clean install get rid of it?

Any ideas? I am getting frustrated.

Thanks,