Computer system isn't working

[i8myshirt]

Yesterday I installed avast 4 antivirus. However, today my computer started behaving differently. My mom said that a window came up and she kept just cancelling out of them. However, I cannot get AIM6, Windows Media Player, and Internet Explorer to work. Internet Explorer opens but it is weird with some sites and the Windows update function and other functions don't seem to work.

My regular computer functions do not work either, such as system restore, search, help and support, etc.

I'm using an xp, so does anyone know why my computer is bugging out?
(Also, I do not know what kind of windows were opened when my mom was using the computer).

 

[wmorri]

I would start in safe mode without networking. Then uninstall that software, and see what happens then.

 

[i8myshirt]

It didn't work.

 

[NeciFiX]

Get Firefox. That should fix your IE problem .

 

[i8myshirt]

I have firefox so I don't really need IE, it's just that IE along with many other regular window operations do not work right now. Someone suggested that I use the original cd and repair my OS but I'm not exactly tech savvy with that cd and it may erase a lot of my software and stuff. This isn't exactly the greatest time to reinstall everything either because I have a lot of work to do right now.

 

[Atomic Rooster]

Get Firefox. That should fix your IE problem .

Not a good solution. Thanks for playing.


You may have a virus or malware hiding out on your computer. Try downloading and running Adaware Free and Spybot Search & Destroy.

 

[A True Folder]

Sounds a lot like it doesn't it, like someone has clicked a bad link and got a nice dose of malware.

Pop up windows would be malware referrals I'm guessing.

Try some scans, did Avast find anything?

 

[i8myshirt]

Avast didn't find a virus, ad-aware didn't find a virus. (I did these before I posted here actually).
I haven't tried spybot yet, but I'm about to try avg. However, if malware or a virus did enter my computer, I would still have to reinstall wouldn't I?
By the way, I really doubt it was malware because I use firefox and I do not download random junk. When I do download, it's just videos of tennis or something with bittorent. My mom doesn't use weird sites. She only goes on asian sites to hang out with her friends and stuff in asia. She doesn't really know that much about computers anyway.

 

[Atomic Rooster]

If worse comes to worse, you could do a repair install. It will leave all your files and programs intact. You'll just have to reinstall all drivers, OS updates and service packs. Here's a tutorial that will show you how:

Windows XP Repair Install.

 

[worshipme]

Run the scans in safe mode.