Help with installations failing

[spatchcock61]

Hi,
Hoping I can find some help on here as searches on the net haven't turned up much, also hope I've posted this in the right place.

I've got a HP Pavillion 9500 with Windows Vista.

I recently had a virus (or some such thing) that I appear to have gotten rid of. It was something like 'Vista Smart Security 2010'.

Since then, I was recommended to get zone alarm and some other anti-spyware/malware things, which I did.

I tried to download and install Web Security Guard for Spyware Terminator, and it failed, saying corrupt.

I also noticed that most internet pages were coming up with that little icon 'error on page' and images/links were broken. (I use Explorer)

I was told to try updating java, turned out I did need some updates, but when installing it, it failed also due to something being corrupt.

Then someone suggested I stop using Explorer and get Firefox, which I tried to download and install, and surprise, it didn't work as it was corrupted.

I'm (as you can probably tell) not very techsavvy at all, and could really do with some help. I'm writing my dissertation on this thing, and am emailing it to myself to try and save it but I am really worried something's wrong and I may lose some stuff. And I could also do with having working internet pages!

Hope someone can help,
Thanks.

[bozo]

I would DL & install malwarebytes to scan for malware (malwarebytes.org). Also try an online scan, I think trendmicro has one.

[spatchcock61]

Hi, thanks for the reply.
Yeah I have that, and have run it. Came back clean. The problem is I can't download or install anything, so can't really try anything else I find online. Downloading things stops part way with various error messages.

[MikeMoss]

Sound like some kind of virus or malware.

You may need to do a reinstall.
At least you can get into your computer the back your stuff up.

This is why I recommend that everyone have an external hard drive with an up to date backup or their hard drive using Norton Ghost or a similar program.

When you get a problem like this you can be back up and running in an hour with no hassles.
It sure beats reinstalling and having to set everything up again. Even if it's just a Windows glitch or corrupted data.

If you have access to another computer try downloading AVG antivirus, and Super Anti Spyware, plus the latest updates, install them in your computer and then run a scan if you can get that far. You need to, at least find out what it is.

But it sounds like backing up your data and reinstalling may be the only sure bet.

Mike

[MikeMoss]

Ps

If your computer will do it, I would copy the stuff you just can't afford to lose to CDs before you do anything else.
Make sure that you save your Address Books, and Favorites as well as any music and photo files on your computer.

Once it is up and running again make sure that you are running a good antivirus program.
I recommend AVG antivirus, it's free and it's what I have used for years.
Also continue to use Malwarebytes and run it regularly.

Lastly download CCleaner and run it everyday. It only takes a few seconds.

Mike