Patch Kb2965788 error 80070308 and general startup nightmares

Last week after some Windows updates, my system would no longer start up properly.

Upon startup the desktop would load, and all would look fine, but in fact the system was

frozen and would not respond to any action (even ctrl-alt-del). I was able to restore to a point

before the update and everything worked fine, and each day when I started up I would have to restore

once more to that point or the system would simply hang on startup.

Figuring the only sure fire way to fix the problem would be a restore to factory settings, I did

so and now am faced with the exact same problem. I have managed to install updates and some

crucial software I need for work (along with Norton for security). But I am again forced each time

I restart Windows to reload a working restore point.

I did notice an error in windows update, the following patch:

Security Update for Windows 7 for x64-based Systems (KB2965788)

failed to install and is no longer even listed in available patches, like Update just gave up on it

(the fail listing has the error #Code 80070308 on it if that helps).

 I am stumped on this one! Any help other than "try to factory reinstall again and hope for

the best" would be greatly appreciated!