Problem solved
I found some help, managed to install Directx 9.0c successfully.
It seems that the problem was related to Windows update - which also was not working properly. Error: 0x800B0001. To resolve this, I followed some steps from a post in *gasp* another site. As found @
http://www.talkaboutsoftware.com/group/microsoft.public.windowsupdate/messages/112538.html
-----------------------"I'm quoting Allen H at Microsoft.
<Quote>
Please try and registry the following dll's and then check to see if you
have resolved the error.
The problem may occur if the softpub.dll file is missing or not registered
properly.
Register Softpub.dll
1. Click Start.
2. Choose Run.
3. In the Run box, type regsvr32 SOFTPUB.dll.
4. Click OK.
The problem may occur if the Mssip32.dll file is missing or not registered properly.
Register Mssip32.dll
1. Click Start.
2. Choose Run.
3. In the Run box, type regsvr32 Mssip32.dll
4. Click OK.
The problem may occur if the Initpki.dll file is missing or not
registered properly
Register Initpki.dll
1. Click Start.
2. Choose Run.
3. In the Run box, type regsvr32 Initpki.dll.
4. Click OK.
Allenh [MSFT]
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights.----------------------------
After following these steps, everything was back to normal. Thanks for all your help.