Thanks, Eddie. I'd actually done the sfc /scannow once, maybe twice. I can use my user-created Recovery discs to reload it if I decide to go that route.
Let me ask you this, is there a possiblity that to open (disable) the Firewall to try to get a Windows Update, then re-close it? This is the type of information that I don't know about. Or even a way to ping at the command prompt for an update, another thing I know nothing of.