If I may pop in here, have you tried Last Known Good Configuration when tapping F8 as you boot (as you did already)? Worth a try for a System Restore before nuking your hard drive. It sounds like the Microsoft update screwed your system, not an unusual happening.
Another suggestion, although not helpful at this time: once you get up and running again, download Macrium Reflect (free edition) and create image backups weekly. With one of those you could have been up and running in an hour.