Driver installation help

Hey everyone!
I've been using Vista Ultimate 32bit for a few months now, with not really any issues at all. But I decided to try getting it running in 64 bit mode.

Specs:
Asus P5N-E 650i SLI Mobo
Intel C2D E6600 Cpu
2GB RAM
Winfast Geforce 8800 GTS Vid Card

Now I went to Nvidias site and downloaded my chipset driver package and the Geforce driver package. (Newest ones)

But before I get there, here's what's happened on my first attempt so far.

Installed OS, got into desktop fine.
Did the first batch of windows updates, it found my NIC without trouble.
Rebooted a few times, everything seemed fine (I made sure not to do SATA or NIC drivers as I knew the Nvidia package would have the newest/best versions).
After all the critical and optional windows updates (other than NIC/Sound/Sata/Video)I rebooted, everything seemed fine.

I then did my chipset package rebooted and noticed my LAN was local only, trying to get to internet. After a bit it popped up saying i could try to repair it, so i did and it finally worked. I rebooted again, did the same thing. So I uninstalled the Ethernet Nvidia drivers, rebooted, now it seems to take a few extra seconds, but LAN says i have local and internet access. (i'm through a linksys router).

So with it seemingly fine. I install my vid card drivers, reboot. I get my full nice resolution. Reboot again, all seems fine. I install windows live messenger it loads ok, I signed in and all was working.

Now this is a good as I can remember. At some point I seem to recall doing another windows update (or two). After a reboot I tried IE and it crashed, and so did Messenger right after bootup. LAN says I still have local and internet access.

I tried pinging some sites, I can. IE still crashes and messenger. Tried a winsock reset, no change. I even tried getting the x64 version of Firefox and it installed fine, but wouldn't run.

My question is, are there any known Windows updates that could be giving me problems? Should I bother with the optional ones?

I just reinstalled and am going to try again. This time I'm going to do my driver packages before any windows updates.

Any other suggestions? Thanks in advance!

Ok I just noticed that my Nvidia Chipset package has NO Sata drivers.
It has:

SMBus Drivers
SM Driver (or something like that)
Ethernet
Media Connect (or something like that)

Now since without any drivers my ethernet works. I only installed the first 2 and rebooted. All seems fine.

Doing video now...

Should I trust the Windows update Sata drivers?

Sigh, well, I had everything going well. Chipset and video drivers. No windows updates. Everything seemed fine.

I opened windows update, and it did that update to windows update. I though, well I'll give it a restart here, make sure everythings fine.

I even created a restore point. Rebooted, POSTed, did the scrolling bar, then monitor lost signal. I did some searching, found everything from a virus to drivers.

I just get the windows boot up sound and no video signal. I can tell the PC is fine, just no video. I can go into safe mode, uninstall the vid driver and reboot. it loads fine with no driver. I delete all driver files, reinstall it, reboot, same problem. Even tried an older driver package.

I'm about ready to go back to XP. The stress is killing me.

Microsoft, please don't released OSs that aren't at least 95% functional.
Thanks.

the sata drivers you're referring to, I assume, are the RAID drivers. usually these days there are two raid controllers on motherboards. promise is one and fasttrack is the other (I think).

If you want to find some drivers, head over to my site 64bitdrivers.com: free x64 downloads, no registration, no popups. home and make a request for the drivers you can't find. We`ll see if we can help!