Will not prepare 12/13/2012 update

I have been trying for 2 days every suggestion I can find with no luck.. I am at a loss on what to do.. I have searched all FFXI files throught he POL option and it came back with no errors, reset modem/router multiple times, tried hardwired/wireless connections, restarting laptop, cleaning harddrive... you name it, i've done it... any suggestions?

Here's the deal. I get to the update screen it goes to the "preparing update" screen and progress stays at 0%, it never shows amount of files to download, the cancel button is highlighted and nothing happens. I let it sit for an hour and a half on multiple occasions thinking if I leave it alone it'll somehow connect...

I am at a loss.. at this point am debating on just deleting the game all together and quiting out of frustration. I cannot delete/reinstall the game because Direct2Drive is merging with Gamefly and have not added FFXI to the download list... Therefor, I would have to buy a disc copy from a store and spending MORE money on something like this is out of the question.

Any suggestions are welcome and very appreciated. All I wanna do is play again. Thank you so so much in advance!

-Beastaru

edit: Figured it'd be helpful if I say I'm on PC. Never had issues with the game at any time. This is the first... laptop is more then capable of handling any size update SE could throw at it.. I am also running Vista. Hope this helps!