[betagamma1051]

I woke up a couple mornings ago and my AVG was turned off for no apparent reason. I would get an error message for every program I would try to run (AVG, Firefox, etc) so I rebooted and got the MSASCUI.exe - Bad Image (Windows Defender) pop up. Uninstalled and reinstalled Firefox and it started working. AVG wouldn't reinstall. Downloaded Microsoft Security Essentials. Windows Update stopped working. Ran every scan and repair in the book and nothing worked. (no Malware found) finally connected with Dell chat and they pretty much told me I have a bad virus and I would need to reinstall windows. Got my Vista disk 2 days later and reformatted and reinstalled. Everything was going fairly well until I downloaded service pack 2 and then got errors for Firefox and iTunes and pretty much everything wasn't working the way it should. Today formatted C: and D: again and reinstalled Vista (this time did not download any other programs - iTunes, Firefox, etc) and everything was going great until I installed service pack 2. Now windows update won't work and the laptop is at such a crawling slow speed that I can't even use it. I'm lost and I don't know what more I can do or why nothing is working even after formatting and reinstalling twice. How deep can the problem be? I'm willing to try anything and I don't care about losing anything because it's all already been lost. My hardware is still under warranty with Dell for another 6 months. Also The problem is with a Dell Inspiron 1525 running Vista Home Basic. Thank you and any answers would be greatly appreciated!!

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I suspect that you have some malware on your computer causing issues that we are not able to solve through means we can use here in the Tech Forums. I suggest you read the 'Start Here' topic found HERE. With these self-help tools you have a high chance of fixing the problems on your own. If you are still having problems after following Step 3 of the guide, continue with Step 4 and 5 and post in the Malware Forum. If you are unable to run any programs, Please create a topic stating what you have tried so far and that you are unable to run any programs. Also, Please do NOT post the logs in this thread.

If you are still having issues after the malware expert gives you a clean bill of health, Please return to THIS thread and we will pursue other options to help you solve your current problem(s).
Add a link to this topic so that malware tech can see what steps have been taken here

[rshaffer61]

I suspect that you have some malware on your computer causing issues that we are not able to solve through means we can use here in the Tech Forums. I suggest you read the 'Start Here' topic found HERE. With these self-help tools you have a high chance of fixing the problems on your own. If you are still having problems after following Step 3 of the guide, continue with Step 4 and 5 and post in the Malware Forum. If you are unable to run any programs, Please create a topic stating what you have tried so far and that you are unable to run any programs. Also, Please do NOT post the logs in this thread.

If you are still having issues after the malware expert gives you a clean bill of health, Please return to THIS thread and we will pursue other options to help you solve your current problem(s).
Add a link to this topic so that malware tech can see what steps have been taken here