I've heard too many horror stories to say that Windows=Unstable is a myth but it really is down to luck to some degree I suppose. I don't think I've ever had to do a reinstall that wasn't due to hardware failure. I've had maybe three malware incidents in the past 20 years that required a fair amount of work to fix but again, no data loss.  I never use auto updates and only install a few security patches if they sound really critical. People swear by video drivers but I can't think of a single application related issue that has required new drivers to fix. I use a good firewall (Comodo) and a good AV (Avast) and that's pretty much it - and that's with going to very bad neighborhoods at midnite on teh internets.

I do sympathize, I just finnished going round with a machine someone gave me with a no video/couldn't even resinstall windows weirdness. Turned out to be a bad stick of RAM - so like cats, they  can be frustrating a hell :-). Take a break, watch some old movies, bake a cake and unwind.

"Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance." - H. L. Mencken