Hi all, I keep getting a Windows installer pop up window saying ‘preparing to install…’ and nothing more each time I boot into Vista. It only pops up then. I’m pretty confident it has to do with a corrupted installation of Symantec NIS, since I was unable to install it automatically and thus had to do it manually (deleting files, cleaning registry…)

I’ve tried disable the Windows Installer service but to no avail. I’ve also tried Microsoft Windows Install Clean Up tool, but the offending installation doesn’t show there (I guess it’s due to having removed it by hand).

Any help will be highly appreciated.
Thanks!
Oh sorry I meant I was unable to *uninstall* Symantec NIS automatically, that’s why I deleted it manually. I’ve done the registry cleanups with CCleaner btw.

So here is the deal. Apparently, my computer is supposed to be "the fastest one in the house" (according to my dad). But when I was younger, I downloaded Limewire, And all sorts of different fonts and cursors from sketchy websites (I was young and stupid apparently).
Now, my computer is really slow. It takes about 15 mins to boot up, and it takes about 10 seconds to just respond to my clicks.

I have removed Limewire since then, and tried to get rid of all of the fonts and stuff, but that hasn’t really helped much.

I have Spybot and Symantec to get rid of spyware and viruses, but it is still so slow.

I would ask my dad, but I don’t want him to know that I had Limewire. >.<

Is there a software I can buy that can help me fix it? Or should I just buy a new hardrive and start over?

Thanks!

I have a Dell Inspiron 1520 laptop. My antivirus software was Symantec. Last night, i uninstall Symantec and installed Trend Micro Internet Security. The installation completed successfully. Than I tried to do the updates for Trend Micro and after about 15 minutes of updating, an error message came up saying it’s not finish updating and can’t update or something like that. Than suddenly, the screen went gray. I tried rebooting and it kept pushing me into safe mode and I had to run a repair but nothing is working. Every time I start the laptop it goes in that safe mode and wont even let me get on. I took it to Best Buy for a diagnostic (waiting for response) but wanted to know if this has this happened to anyone??????? Do you think it’s hardware or software??

*Driver_irql_not_less_or_equal
*0xD1 error with other sectors listed (i.e. 0xeed77cf1)
*PXE-E61 failed on network LAN boot
WinXP, SP2 (had SP3, but downgraded due to vulnerability problems).
AMD, Compaq Presario M2105US

System Restore (need to be in "normal mode") & Last Known Configuration don’t help.

Chkdsk fails on reboot and scandisk does not run in safe mode

BIOS settings have been reset to default

I had Symantec Anti-virus w/Live Update, but that has not been performing well lately and I deleted it as Live Update was not actually Live Updating it. Any anti-virus software I dl, it refuses for some odd reason. What I do have installed is Malware Bytes & Wise Registry Cleaner 4.

I have seen most tech forums on the Web and none of them have been providing me a right answer, so I will take suggestions from here. Thanks to those that help me, I truly appreciate it. 🙂