Thinkvantage update INSTALL seems to be frozen

Question

Ouch.  New machine. X100e Win7 Pro 32-bit model 3508CTO.  Did the setup, connected to home wireless, did the Windows patching, started Thinkvantage. So far so good.
Thinkvantage tells me that I need to do an update for Thinkvantage itself.  OK, no problem.  I click the button, the download takes just a few moments, then it starts the install.
The installation seems to be frozen.  It's been about a half hour now.
The install bar initially moved along very quickly.  After about a minute though, it stopped at about 45% (I'm estimating, there are no numbers).  It's been stuck there for about a half hour.  (The text on the bar says "Installing Lenovo ThinkVantage Toolbox...")
What do you think?  Should I just crash it and start over?
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Answer 1

OK, so I picked up the phone and called 24-hour Tech Support.  (I know, I know.)
Anyway, so after they asked me about a hundred personal questions that had nothing to do with my computer or my problem (sigh), they finally answered my question ... yeah, I should just crash it and start over.
Then came the surprise suggestion:  The guy says to me, "what you should do now is uninstall ThinkVantage and re-install it from scratch".  Ouch.
After hanging up, I rebooted and simply started the app up again.  It does NOT seem to be the newly updated version. I say that because it asked me to update itself again.
Searching for updates... finished
Lenovo ThinkVantage Toolbox - Version 10
Update Available - Version 55
OK, let's try it again.  Bzzzt.  Frozen again.  (The download went fine again, the install started up normally again, and then it froze at the exact same place. Again.)  Crash, reboot, restart it up again ... yup it still wants me to upgrade to 55.
Of course, I haven't even built my first recovery disk and I'd sure hate to have that FAIL on me sometime when I really need it just 'cause I was too lazy to do the uninstall /reinstall thing.  And I guess I'm 45 versions behind.
Annoying, but I guess that's what I'll do.
[UPDATE: I actually went all the way back by doing a Factory Reset.  Afterwards, I let Windows update itself (not much of an option there), but I canceled out of the Windows Live and the Java update.  I then ran the ThinkVantage update.  Success.  The progress bar still stops at about 45%, but every ten seconds or so something flashes across the screen.  After about 60 seconds, the progress bar disappears, the FINISHED screen displays, and then the ThinkVantage startup screen pops up on top of that (even before you have a chance to close the first one).  But the bottom line is: I'm now running Version 55 of the thing, and *now* I'm gonna let Java update itself and everything else.]
[POST-MORTEM:  I have no idea what caused the installs to keep crashing.  A conflict with the latest versions of Java, or some other Microsoft update?  Maybe some obscure setting I'd set (e.g., I always turn off indexing as one of the first things I do)?  Frankly, I just don't know, but I'm past it.  Now I'm off to try to actually figure out how to *use* ThinkVantage, and maybe create some factory reset DVDs.]