I got many problems after installing SP2

Hello all,

I just bought a Dimension 2400 back in the first week of Sept. 2004.  I encountered many problems after downloading drom the web and installing XP Service Pack 2.  First I had my computer on automatic download and installation of windows updates.  It was just a few days after installing SP2, My computer was not detecting the CD- Rom drive nor the CDRW drive.  and when i would reboot the computer and hold F2 to get into BIOS, it would not detect it there either.  so then i turned off  my computer, opened it up and pulled out all of the red, yellow and black cords with white connecters that attache to the power and the drives, then I pulled out the wide gray belts and reconnected all of the cords and belts, then my computer really started to play and mess around with me, making me really mad.  Sometimes I would turn on my computer and it would detect the 2 CD drives, and sometimes it would not.  Some other day later, I lost the audio,  nothing was coming out of the speakers, only some sounds from the tower could be heard, like when i made an error or something, BEEP.  So then I saw somewhere in these posts about how you may have to re install the chipsets after installing SP2.  So I put in the driver disc, installed the chipsets with no problem.  Then I saw on the same disc the audio drivers.  So I reinstalled the audio drivers, and then my computer froze up, and stopped up, and u know the picture, got me really upset.  So then I decided to pull out all of the cords and belts that connect to the 2 CD drives, so I could format the Hard drive and reinstall windows.  So now I have windows XP reinstalled, and set my computer so that it will not download any windows updates, for fear that I may have these problems again.  After I reinstalled windows and Norton Internet Security and AOL I I found on the site here at the top of the screen downloads for the audio drivers, and i have my audio back, and my CD drives have not gone AWOL on me YET.  Can you techies please give me some advice, I want to download the Windows XP updates and SP2 again, but I don't want these problems again, and then have to sit here through 5 hours of installing and downloading.  And you know when I set my computer to do the automatic updates, I don't know what it is installing and downloading, until after it has already started to install SP2 or the other updates it downloads before SP2. Also after downloading Yahoo Messenger and JAVA from the web, can I burn these to CD so Idon't have to wait 35 - 40 minutes of downloading them again?  How would I do it?  I have Sonic Record Now 7.1.  Also what about burning the audio drivers to disc?  Please help me PLEASE

Thanks

Dell Dimension 2400 Intel Celeron Processor at 2.6 GHz
BIOS AO5
512MB DDR SDRAM at 333MHz
17IN E773c Monitor
40GB 7200 RPM Hard Drive
3.5in Floppy Drive
Lite- On 48x CDROM Drive
HL HD 48x CDRW drive
Integrated ADI 188S Audio
Dell A215 Speakers