No, I didn't do XP DMA, sorry

I tried reading the document that you linked to but I couldn't understand it well, so I didn't do anything...

What I did instead is a system restore, like you suggested and it worked. (For those who is interested it works somewhat like Time Machine.) As soon as the computer loaded up, updates started popping up again, which I declined. Luckily the Firefox loaded up without a hitch and started playing Pandora without any hiccups again! And that's all I was asking for.

PS. Luckily there's also an option (well hidden but present) to disable XP updates for good. Again I don't recommend it for everyone, but for my case it solved the issue.

Thanks for your help!