Windows Updates corrupt OS

My old hard drive died so I put in a new 320GB drive from Dell as the part was still under warranty. I then used my Windows 7 Pro CD to reinstall Windows. Once installed and drivers for the wireless run, I ran Windows Updates which showed I needed 140 critical updates. Some were Windows Security updates and some were normal Windows Updates.

The first attempt at running the updates, I simply selected them all and let it go. It failed and upon restart, the message "Windows is loading files" remains on for a very long time before going into a Startup Repair routine. Then a message saying Startup Repair cannot repair this computer automatically. At that point, I can select a system recovery option menu which gives Startup Repair (which does nothing), System restore, system image recovery, windows memory diags, or command prompt. Oh yea, I ran the Dell built in diagnostics on the hardware and it shows no problems.

At this point I simply reformatted the drive again as I had no data on it and re-ran the W7 install. I then ran just the Windows Security updates and they all ran just fine. I then ran the Windows Updates and once again I ran into the same problem as the above paragraph.

I reformatted and ran W7 install again but this time after running the Windows 7 Security updates I started running the Windows Updates one at a time. On the very first Windows update attempt, I again ran into the same problem.

I did create a system restore cd but this isnt important as I dont have any data.

I really have no idea what is going on. Any help would be appreciated.

Dave

That was my thought. I'm in the process of reformatting again. I will keep you updated.

Ok, here's the "update" (heh heh, although this is no laughing matter); I have formatted and re-installed W7 Pro at least a dozen times. Each time I try running the Windows Updates a little differently. The bottom line is that it really doesn't matter how the updates are installed, i.e.; which order, eventually, after a restart, I get the Startup Repair window where it tries, always unsuccessfully, to repair the damaged files.

Any ideas would be most appreciated.

It's the CD that came with the Laptop.

I attempted another install before reading NoelDP's last post. This time, though, I used Layback Bears advice using "By gregrocker
Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7"

Once again, the system went into the Startup Repair after I had installed several of the Windows Updates one at a time.

Under the Windows Update Posting Instructions from NoelDP there are 5 instructions to respond to. Here are my replies to those 5 instructions:

1. I am unable to download and run the SURT after the OS becomes corrupt. The Windows Updates run just fine and then said a restart was necessary. When I restart and it tries to reload the OS is when I see problems and it automatically goes into the Startup Repair. It never repairs anything and simply states it cannot repair the computer automatically. When I view the problem details, it reports the following:

Problem Signature 01: 6.1.7600.16385
Problem Signature 02: 6.1.7600.16385
Problem Signature 03: Unknown
Problem Signature 04: 21199558
Problem Signature 05: AutoFailover
Problem Signature 06: 2
Problem Signature 07: CorruptFile
OS Version: 6.1.7601.2.1.0.256.1
Locale ID: 1033

2. I then am able to get to a command prompt to run sfc /scannow which results in a message saying "There is a system repair pending which requires reboot to complete. Restart Windows and run sfc again."

So I restart and wait for the Startup Repair to run which comes back and says Startup Repair could not detect a problem. So I click back into the View advanced options link and go back to a command prompt to try to run the sfc command again.

Again, it results in the same message stating there is a system repair pending.

3. Windows Updates error codes. There were none.

4. Log Collection:

In the c:\windows\logs directory (I'm only able to access this through the command prompt and, therefore, am not able to copy and past any of the logs contents from that machine) there are no logs but there are 3 directories containing files:

...\cbs contains an 86MB file called cbs.log and two cbsPersist.cab files
...\dpx contains a 75KB file called setupact.log which has a bunch of lines basically saying it started a dpx phase and then ended a dpx phase
...\systemrestore contains a file called restore.0.etl

5. Start a new thread. Don't think I should do that.

So, its at this point where I reformat the drive and reinstall windows. However, I have tried reinstalling windows from my Dell supplied reinstallation CD which apparently isn't the right thing to do and then I tried the clean reinstall suggested by gregrocker (from Bears post above) and it didn't work either.

I am stumped what might be going on.

Dave