So far so good. I had one problem device (PCI-e root hub) that Windows said it didn't have the resources for, but that seems to be OK after doing a new repair without crippling ACPI.

In the above situation I also had Windows showing that my floppy device wasn't installed properly (it was disabled in BIOS). Now it doesn't show up at all, which is what I expect (and how it used to be before).

I'm about to install AVAST since I've tested it on another system successfully. This will be the first time I've had anti-virus software running full time on a PC.

Currently in the process of applying SP3 and if all goes well I hope to have the system connected back to my TV sources and recording by 8pm.

I do wish I knew what the hell happened to cause this headache.