HP Notebook - Pavilion using Vista Home Premium. Had for 2 yrs. I'm not an IT person, just a user.

Recently obtained new cellphone & was searching for different ringtones. One website I was suddenly switched to a "scan website", I immediately tried to X out & it started a scan. I then pulled the power cord & took out the battery.

Re-booted & all seemed normal, but after a day things started not working correctly. AVG wouldn't start, Gadgets started freezing, etc.

Yesterday, I tried downloading a cellphone program & started getting the message when I tried to Install via .exe..."not a valid win32 application".

Restored 3 times to earlier versions, most programs restored but could not run any anti-virus, rootkit, new or just downloaded programs, updates or even documents. All attempts gave the same message as the stated before.

I've researched thru MS, CNET, other sites with no success. I've looked at the Registry but don't know what I'm looking at.

I run various MS Accessories/Win Defender without finding a single problem.

I downloaded HijackThis, but it won't open....not a valid win32 application.

I would deeply appreciate any responses that could resolve this. As I said, not an IT person, I started using PC's in the early 80's & self-taught DOS, Win3.x, etc...but it has gone beyond my limited knowledge. Thnx (apologies if this was the wrong place to post)

Have you tried running Hijack in Safe mode?
Combo Fix may help:
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/comb...o-use-combofix

Hi Fishbait,

Sounds like there might be some corruption with the Vista OS either from a partially installed malware script or just from pulling the powercord out in the middle of a critical system operation. Eitherway I may have a quick solution for you.

HP Pavillion has a system recovery feature that keeps all your data intact-however applications may need reinstalled.

Restart the system and as soon as you see the bios screen(first screen) tap F11. Follow those instructions for a system recovery.

A rapid solution I think.

Hi,
before you even think about doing a complete reinstall, there are many ways to try and fix the problem first.
Go here first;-
http://www.daniweb.com/forums/thread27570.html
and read, you probably have a few viruses hiding away in there now and that is your main problem. This site will give you instructions on how to do a DOS (boot up) scan and other handy tips.
Even the best anti virus program will miss intruders, especially if you have been doing the wrong thing. I feel sure that you will fix your problems here, if not post back and other solutions can be offered before you need to even think about doing a reinstall.
A reinstall would obversely involve reinstalling your operating system but then you would have to reinstall all your software that did not come pre-installed on your PC and then downloading and reinstalling every update and hot fix since your OS was produced.

Strange tidings...Thnx for all responses...the problem is something about IE & Firefox not downloading anything plus certain installed programs not launching. I switched to Google Chrome & tried to d/l a .pdf & was successful, then did a ShareWare Registry Scan & it d/l & opened...then did Scan & showed some 605 errors within the laptop. It will only fix 20. Unless I purchase for $30. I'll keep looking & trying to do things WITHOUT me changing the Registry by hand.

Thanx to all who replied....finally got things working with Google Chrome browser....enough to d/l a MalwareByte program.....scan revealed one bad file....quarantined & re-booted.....also, had removed some useless, possible problem programs that I had gotten from CNET....almost used a registry cleaner.....but on advice, didn't........so things are better, not perfect (yet)....but better....

FB

Hi again,
Good to hear things are looking up, try these two programs and see if things get better.

CCleaner – Removes unused and temporary files from your system.
http://www.filehippo.com/download/51.../download.html


http://www.stevengould.org/index.php...=29&Itemid=223

Hi again,
I gave you two files that do the same thing just chose one.

This one is free and will do a good job on your registry and also immunize your PC from further attacks.

Spybot - Search & Destroy – Removes threats to your security and privacy from your hard disk and Registry.
http://www.download.com/Spybot-Searc...ml?tag=lst-0-1