My 4 month old install of XP Pro SP3 (slightly NLited) appears to not be retaining changes - it's is behaving as if I were installing new apps and updates in a virtual environment like Sandboxie or Returnil. The changes disappear when I reboot.

Examples: I've installed the newest Windows updates (KB969947 and Nov Malicious Software Removal) several times, via both Automatic Update and the Update website. They install correctly, tell me to reboot, and when I do, they're gone.

Avira updates disappear after every shutdown.

Comodo Firewall recognizes my recently created home home network at every startup even after I set it to allow my computer to be accessible on the network.

I have Returnil installed on my machine but it is not turned on.

All advice is appreciated, as I assume I'll have to re-install if i can't figure this out, and I'd rather not...

Well, for start, this post should be moved to the nLite forum, and you could attach your LastSession.ini to give us a better overview of the process, like which version of nLite you used, how you built your CD, what kind of version of XP you have...

I posted this here because I doubt it's an nLite issue. This installation of Windows is 4 months old, and this behavior only began a few weeks ago...

Possible Sandboxie or Returnil might be causing the problem. Try uninstall them and see if problem exists.