IE 8 will not allow Adobe Reader download

[steve]

Recently I updated to IE 8 on a winXP Service pack 3 machine. I believe the
machine was infected with something at the time. I was using Avast and AVG
Antivirus that were not finding anything though. The machine was very slow
though so I purchased Registry/Idenity Patrol and ran that several times. It
would find less things each time but got down to six items it would not
remove. The computer runs much faster now but is unstable. When I try to
download Adobe reader or Flash it immediatly locks IE and I get a message
about maliious add ons. Also, I uninstalled all other Virus programs as well
as Adobe thinking I could download them again when I had my problems
resolved. Any ideas what to do now?

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

... I was using Avast and AVG

Antivirus that were not finding anything though.

That's because you should only have one (1) AV app installed & loading at
boot.

...so I purchased Registry/Idenity Patrol and ran that several times. It
would find less things each time but got down to six items it would not
remove. The computer runs much faster now but is unstable

Uh-huh... Out of the frying pan & into the fire! If you ever think your
Registry needs to be cleaned, repaired, boosted, or optimized (it doesn't),
read http://aumha.net/viewtopic.php?t=28099 and draw your own conclusions.

...Any ideas what to do now?

Sure: Back-up any personal data (none of which should be considered 100%
trustworthy at this point) then do a format & clean install of Windows.
Please note that a Repair Install (AKA in-place upgrade) will NOT fix this!

See http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html#steps and/or Method 1
in http://support.microsoft.com/kb/978307

After the clean install, you'll have the equivalent of a "new computer" so
take care of everything on the following page before otherwise connecting
the machine to the internet or a network and before using a USB key that
isn't brand-new or hasn't been freshly formatted:

5 steps to help protect your new computer before you go online
http://www.microsoft.com/protect/computer/advanced/xppc.mspx

Other helpful references include:

HOW TO get a computer running WinXP Gold (no Service Packs) fully patched
(after a clean install)
http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.windowsupdate/msg/3f5afa8ed33e121c

HOW TO get a computer running WinXP SP1(a) or SP2 fully patched (after a
clean install)
http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.windowsxp.general/msg/a066ae41add7dd2b

Also see:

Steps To Help Prevent Spyware
http://www.microsoft.com/security/spyware/prevent.aspx

Steps to Help Prevent Computer Worms
http://www.microsoft.com/security/worms/prevent.aspx

Avoid Rogue Security Software!
http://www.microsoft.com/security/antivirus/rogue.aspx

 

[Elmo]

Recently I updated to IE 8 on a Win XP SP3 machine. I believe the
machine was infected with something at the time. I was using Avast andAVG
Antivirus that were not finding anything though. The machine was very slow
though, so I purchased Registry/Identity Patrol and ran that several times. It
would find less things each time but got down to six items it would not
remove. The computer runs much faster now but is unstable. When I tryto
download Adobe reader or Flash it immediately locks IE and I get a message
about malicious add ons. Also, I uninstalled all other Virus programs as well
as Adobe thinking I could download them again when I had my problems
resolved. Any ideas what to do now?

Burn BitDefender, or another program listed at the link below, to a CD
(using a working machine) and test the infected machine with it.
BitDefender also has a Rootkit checker on the Linux Desktop; run it if
you think that's the problem:

http://www.techmixer.com/free-bootable-antivirus-rescue-cds-download-list/

Download the executable rather than the .iso image, if one is available,
(though no .exe is available for BitDefender).

After the scan is run, if you elect to quarantine files, they're
quarantined to RAM and lost after you reboot. You'll need to copy any
quarantined files to the hard drive, a thumb drive or elsewhere before
exiting.

Then run these:

Malwarebytes© Corporation
http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam/program/mbam-setup.exe

SuperAntispyware
http://www.superantispyware.com/superantispywarefreevspro.html

 

[Peter Foldes]

Steve

From what you described in your post (registry cleaning tool and 2 AV programs
installed) all I can recommend to you is to do a full reformat and a clean install
of XP. Do not use any Registry Tools,they are all snake oil remedies and will ALWAYS
cause an irreparable issue among them such as you have now(unstable system)
encountered.

Save all your Data and needed files and do a clean reformat. Also install only one
(1) AV and never more