Window Update Errors (641, 80070641) on various Service Packs (Vista OS)

I even downloaded the individual updates and they failed.
For Office 2010 SP1, the only error came back was:

Even uninstalling and reinstalling Office did not resolve the issue.
After numerous hours with MS support, we finally determined that Windows Installer was hosed up.
The MS rep found a HotFix
A hotfix for Windows Installer is available for Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, and Windows Server 2008
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/972397  (you have to request the hotfix from MS and I attached it here with a .txt extension

Also this fix appears to have remedied my ongoing issue with other software failing to install due to error writing to c:\config.msi\*.rbf (roll back file).  See blog entry on Config.msi  http://www.salley.us/cmsic/page11102512.aspx