XP, TI, SP2 Disasters

I don't know if this thread should go in the XP forum, Other Software, or SP2?
I am running XP Home, with Norton SW, and Zone Alarm Pro.
I have been running XP, and adding all updates as they became available, for about seven months with no problems at all. I received the CD for SP2 from Microsoft last week, so I ran AdAware, Spybot, and RegscrubXP, set a Restore Point, and backed up the registry with ERUNT, and then installed SP2.
It installed with no problems, and everything worked just like it should, (used to!) except for a small concern about unexplained downloads reported in another thread, now resolved. I then ran AdAware, Spybot, and RegscrubXP again, de-fragged 'C', ran ERUNT, and using True Image imaged 'C' to a second HD, and then burnt a DVD of that image. Both images verified OK. Set a Restore Point.
Over the next few days I noticed several little problems, IE was very slow to open, and programs launched from the quick launch bar being slower than normal, so I decided to try to restore an image for the first time. True Image reported having restored 'C' OK, the machine shut down and re-booted. XP started to load, the XP splash screen with the bar graph came up, ran for about 20 seconds, then froze. I waited about 5 minutes to give it a good chance, then re-booted and tried Last Good - same failure exactly.
I decided to try another restore from the DVD image using the Acronis boot disc. TI would not recognise the *****image as a *.tib file ! ! ! I rebooted into Safe Mode (It got there OK!) and tried System Restore. This ran, but on reboot reported that system could not be restored to the chosen point - try another. This I did, to the pre-SP2 check point. Boot stalled again on the same XP splash screen.
Rebooted into safe mode and ran ERNDT to restore the registry, same fault on reboot.
Rebooted into safe mode, ran MSCONFIG for a clean boot, same fault on reboot. I began to lose my cool ! ! !
Using the original Windows XP CD, because I hadn't got around to slipstreaming with SP2, I repaired XP, and installed SP2 immediately.
Just to make sure that all was well, I had decided to try rebooting three times. On the third boot it froze on the XP splash screen exactly as before. After a long walk to cool down, and a couple of beers, I tried again.
Rebooted into safe mode, and found an icon for TI on the desktop which I hadn't put there. Went to Control Centre and in Add/Remove tried to remove TI, getting the message "True Image can not be found and may have already been removed ". Found the TI folder in 'C', just where it should be, and moved it to the recycle bin. I then ran Regscrub, which found 63 errors, all of which I removed.
Rebooted successfully, with all working properly at the moment. It does seem to me however, that most of my programs are slower to launch since SP2. Has anybody else noticed this?
It would appear that XP had a problem loading a driver during the boot because it booted past the point where the keyboard LED's flash, then the bar graph just stopped. I have had no new hardware drivers for at least a year and have had no problems at all until SP2. Which programs are likely to be able to cause such a problem - any ideas - TI?
If anything else happens, (God forbid!), I'll report back.

Roger