I was having problems installing Vista SP1 and was recommended by Microsoft to do a repair install. They sent me a Vista DVD in the mail and gave me directions (which they left a lot of key things out <_< good thing I found the thing on this site out about it) I successfully did a repair install, but now like 99 windows updates including IE 8 was missing and have to be downloaded/installed again. Is this normal for updates to be removed or lost when performing a repair install?
Yes it is normal you did a repair install which is the same thing as a reinstall except your desktop and files that were there are still there just it re-installs windows without formating the HDD or deleting anything