It has been pretty quiet with my computer lately. No crashing updates, and no crashes from anything else. Here is what I did, after reinstalling the SSD:
Prior to doing anything, I downloaded all the
drivers HP had to offer, relating to the TouchSmart TM2 1070ca laptop.
My conjecture was that the problem was rooted in the fact that I was installing a Windows 7 on top of an old installation. And that was all it seemed I could do, and I forgot that the install program would let me format the hard drive before installation.
I went to my local computer store (Staple's), and when I told them my situation, they were willing to burn for me an OEM DVD of Windows 7 Home Edition for 20 bucks. This one had Service Pack 1 already on it (my original Update DVD had no service packs), and the number of updates this time around was noticeably smaller. So, when I got home, I formatted the drive, and did a fresh install with the new DVD.
So far, all net connections are turned off, and I begin installing the drivers from the HP site (all stored now on a USB stick). I don't know if order matters, but I started with basic I/O (ICH9 Chipset), BIOS Update, digitizer pen, Intel Graphics/Audio drivers, touchpad, ATI Graphics
driver, Wireless (IntelPro and Atheros Wireless drivers failed for me, but I do have a working wireless connection). The "Essential Windows Update" came somewhere in the middle, then the rest: USB card reader, fingerprint reader, broadband, bluetooth (no device detected, it complains -- maybe because I have no bluetooth?), YouCam, MediaSmart DVD, whatever I thought of having a use for.
What I didn't install were software I felt were more of a promotional nature for HP than being of any use for me: PaintIt!, HP Advisor (which seems to give very little advice), LightScribe (my external DVD doesn't use it), HP Support Assistant (which, when it was the default software, gave little support or assistance).
Over the past 20 or so hours, I have not seen a blue screen, and this is even after installing MBSA and checking for more security/update holes that way. I installed Visual Studio Express 2012, no complaints.
So, it looks as though the default installation itself was buggy, and even the recovery DVDs, when re-tried on the factory drive, also gave blue screens. The only solution was to install Windows 7 from OEM, then manually install drivers and firmware afterward. I still had BSOD before installing all of the necessary drivers (BIOS, video especially), but that went away after BIOS and Video were updated.
This computer is bordering on being actually stable and useable.