Wup.sys / startup issue w/ Windows 2000

Question

I've been running iTunes on my laptop for years. I'm shifting to a desktop, with a much larger hard drive, so I convert my CD collection (and shop more at the iTunes store, heh).
But when I install iTunes, startup hangs about 75% of the way across the blue/white status bar (above the "t" in Microsoft). Using F8 for command line startup, startup freezes just after "wup.sys". Many many many forums discuss purported wup.sys problems (including incompatability with USB, iTunes, and more), with the only conclusion being that wup.sys is simply the last thing to load before the registry, and that anything that upset the registry would cause startup to freeze when the registry loads.
Soooo... I can use "last known good configuration" (LKGC) to get back into Windows. I can then successfully uninstall iTunes, although that's not necessary - startup proceeds on the LKGC without a hitch. But the LKGC misses the registry settings that iTunes made. And if I run (rather than uninstalling) iTunes, I get a warning that the registry settings for importing and burning CDs aren't there and that I need to reinstall iTunes. Doing so only reintroduces the mysterious startup freeze so oft associated with (and blamed on) wup.sys. Doing LKGC again, I can run iTunes, with apparently full functionality except for importing and burning - which I haven't tried, but am timid about without further advice.
Given the hundreds of posts, and dozens of forums, mentioning wup, many of them citing iTunes, surely I'm not the only one with this problem. And yet, despite hours of googling, off and on over the course of three weeks, I ain't found an answer.
(BTW, yes, I have the updated Windows install engine, Service Pack 4, newest version of iTunes, Windows Update runs daily, logging in as administrator, disabling virus-protection and closing all other programs, etc etc.)
Thanks,
Ellis

Answer 1

Woo-hoot/___sbsstatic___/migration-images/migration-img-not-avail.png It wouldnt have occurred to me that installing those drivers separately was possible, much less safe - but IT WORKED/___sbsstatic___/migration-images/migration-img-not-avail.png
iTunes started and ran fine (no warning about registry issues for ripping/burning), and reboot went fine (no hanging, no errors).
I guess that means that the drivers (and related registry settings) themselves aren't the issue (i can rip and burn fine now), just the way they're implemented in the iTunes install executable?
I did get an "A specified file, path, or program could not be found." warning at startup the first time, but with nothing in the dialog box's header or body to indicate what it's talking about, and no discernable effects, good or bad; and it only happened once - but I'll mention it here for the record, in case this word-around introduced something incomplete and/or in case someone reworks the iTunes installer.
THANK YOU/___sbsstatic___/migration-images/migration-img-not-avail.png Now, someone please relay this to the installer team. Something ain't right with it, and lots of folks could benefit by this fix - and there are almost certainly other people who gave up on iTunes or (worse) their computers when they encountered this issue.
-eg