Vista - continuous reboot loop after automatic update

A P.S. to tell you that I reformatted the disk with the factory defaults and the computer is working perfectly again. A lot of Windows updates to install, but this time I am watching to avoid the recent loop. Thanks again for your help.

glad its sorted a reformat is always the last option but it seemed ypur only one

did the repair option install not work?

The repair option install didn't work. I am fortunate that the laptop didn't have anything important stored on it so I could reformat easily. Now it is a matter of getting a year of updates installed while avoiding another maddening loop. All of my important files are on a desktop that I prefer to use at home. I only use the laptop when I'm out. Thanks again for your assistance.

I hope you have not reformatted (which you did) because this issue has plagued my life for the past two days. Here are some quick facts about it. Anyway. I hope in the future someone reads this so that they don't have to go through formatting again.

1.What caused it? Multiple updates at a time
Microsoft's update problem has existed for Vista users for a while now and the most common factor during these updates are that multiple updates are installed at a time. Try installing them in groups of 3 or 4 manually.
2. It is fixable. If you could find a way to manually remove or rename the SoftwareDistribution folder in the Windows folder. It will say reverting changes but it will actually start. I won't pretend I'm an expert on how to manually do this without getting in to the system but all I can say is DOS from the repair option in the boot DVD. Another option is have a PE version of windows xp (legal copy please) which will allow you to boot in a ram drive so you could gain access to your local drives to do that.
3. Will SP2 fix it? No
I have an MSDN version of Windows Vista Ultimate Service Pack 2 x86 and freshly installed it on my rig. Did the updates and same thing happened. Formatted again and resinstalled again. Did the updates little by little, now it works perfectly.

Thanks for your response. I will keep it in case the problem recurs. As you noted, I did already reformat, but it wasn't a disaster because I mostly use my desktop (with XP which has been relatively problem-free) and all my substantive files are stored there and backed up. The laptop is mostly a convenience, and I didn't have any files stored on it. I do think Vista more than deserves an early retirement. It occasionally crashes in the middle of working on something and proceeds to download updates, which is why I stopped doing any serious work on the laptop a while ago.

Well that's swell to hear,
I hope there could be a better update environment for Windows Vista wherein Microsoft would be kind enough to actually prevent these errors from happening. I hope Windows 7 is better in this regard as I'm planning to purchase a pre release Ultimate version which is going to be in tune with my processor upgrade which is also going to basically kill my savings