updates, critical and windows

Please help,
I have just reinstalled (clean install) xp pro on a laptop. Now I am trying to do the updates and I’m having a lot of failures. I tried installing sp1 a couple of times but after a certain point it errors out. Has anyone experienced this before? I don’t know if I need to start over with the os install or if there is a particular patch or two that need to be installed first.
Thank you,