hallelujah !!! the "easiest computer fix ever" usb fix saves the day AGAIN, AND my little usb drive thingie is not grilled after all !!!! (so, no need to throw things at the client's head after all, for the moment.
talk about a coincidence though).
dixiegal, i highly recommend you try my fix : it's probably as close to a miracle as we'll ever see in our daily lives. (and then you can call back microsoft's tech support, and tell them where they can go).
and no, i haven't installed sp3 (still on sp2) because i prefer to wait for the early-adopter fallout (reviews) when it comes to M$ "service" packs, and i heard a few bad things about sp3...