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Download problem

penneck
Aspiring Pro
Posts: 1,089
Thanks: 79
Registered: ‎03-08-2007

Download problem

Am having problems with my wife's laptop pc. The problem started with it complaining it couldn't access the CD Drive. I used her Recovery Disk to try to fix that, but the Recovery process complained that Service Packs (not sure if that is the correct name) had been loaded since the Recovery Disk had been generated. However, I managed to get it to do something. That changed the complaint to NTLDR is compressed.
I used my pc to find out what to do about the new problem. It involved Windows Repair. To get there I needed to boot up with an operating system CD, but my wife's pc doesn't have a CD copy of Windows XP Media Centre. I have a copy of XP Pro, so I used that to boot into Repair, I did the "NTLDR is compressed" fix, and now I can boot up from the hard disk. XP seems to work okay.
However, now I am having problems downloading things from the web. So far I have tried and failed to download Zone Alarm and Spybot. The download appears to start, but doesn't progress. It can sit there literally for an hour and get no further. Yet I had to download and install several Windows updates (I suppose some updates had been wiped by the earlier problem).
I did manage to download and install AVG before I tried downloading Zone Alarm and Spybot, so this problem has either occurred since I loaded AVG, or there is something that is choosy as to what it will download.
If anyone has any suggestions as to how I can fix this problem, I would be grateful to know what those suggestions are.
Thanks
3 REPLIES 3
ReedRichards
Seasoned Pro
Posts: 4,927
Thanks: 145
Fixes: 25
Registered: ‎14-07-2009

Re: Download problem

Talk about sledgehammers and nuts!!!  You would have been better employed using your PC to find out how to fix the original problem less destructively.
And, honestly, if you have AVG and you haven't taken the computer back to before Windows XP SP2 then you don't need ZoneAlarm and Spybot.  They were excellent programs in their day but the world of computers and computer security software moves on apace.  Get with it.
Let's take stock.  The computer is running XP Media Centre edition but you may have obliterated years of updates including Service Packs.  Right click My Computer, select Properties and the Window that opens should tell you (towards the top) which service pack you are running.  It should be SP3.  Is it?  While you are about it check if the Recovery Disc also recovered the original security software supplied with the computer; perhaps that is fighting with the AVG software now that you have installed AVG?
 
penneck
Aspiring Pro
Posts: 1,089
Thanks: 79
Registered: ‎03-08-2007

Re: Download problem

I did as you suggested about checking for service packs, and I do have SP3.
I have removed AVG and replaced it with Avast. Between removing one and instalng the other, I was able to download ZA and Spybot so it looks like AVG was causing the problem.
Incidentally, I use AVG, and Spybot and Ad-Aware and Zone Alarm on at least two other computers that I have (and others before them) and never had the downloading probem. I also find Spybot and Ad-Aware find things that AVG didn't. I just dont understand why my wife's pc should be any different.
I have just tried tocreate a new set of recovery disks, as the orignal one didn't like the fact that the pc had service packs installed since the recovery disks were made. The pc wouldn't let me - it said one set had already been created. Any ideas?
TIA
ReedRichards
Seasoned Pro
Posts: 4,927
Thanks: 145
Fixes: 25
Registered: ‎14-07-2009

Re: Download problem

The exact definition of Spyware is somewhat vague.  All effective antispyware software should find and remove the malign stuff but each individual program may differ as to the borderline cases.  So, yes, Spybot and Adaware and any other program you care to mention may each find some stuff that the others miss but hopefully this is the stuff that represents the lowest level of threat.  My two favourite antispyware programs of the moment are Malwarebytes Anti-Malware and SuperAntiSpyware.
There is no good reason for AVG to stop you downloading; presumably it was malfunctioning.  I find the latest version (9.0) a lot more demanding on computer resources than previous versions so it runs less well on older computers.
As for "recovery discs", if you want to be able to return your computer to its current state you need some sort of disc imaging software.  I use a program called Acronis True Image but I have a feeling that is better at creating an image to a second hard drive than to a set of CD/DVDs.