Major crashes, anti-virus won't work, black screens, help! [So

WOW, what a difference that made!!!

Hi CoolCat, Test the computer for a few days and let me know if you are having any issues. If all is well, we will wrap this up.

Can I delete SpyBot?

Hi CoolCat, Please do not delete anything just yet.

ok

Hi CoolCat, How has the computer been running?

Well, last night things seemed to start going slow, again. Then when I booted up today, it wouldn't boot and had already gone into the Windows Startup Recovery program. I stopped it, tried to copy what it did say to the clipboard but lost that because it made me reboot on stopping the program. I am tempted to go do the F8 and last best configuration deal, again.

Hi CoolCat,

Let's try using System Restore to roll back to a date prior to when the trouble started.

Use this guide for assistance.

Also, I have noticed Avira has not been able to update. Here is a log from that.

Avira Free Antivirus Updater
Complete product update

Creation time: Friday, July 05, 2013 2:33:17 AM

Operating system:
Windows ™ Vista Home Premium (Service Pack 2) [6.0.6002] 64 bit

Product information:
Product version: 13.0.0.3737
Updater: C:\Program Files (x86)\Avira\AntiVir Desktop\update.exe 13.6.14.1550
Update resource: C:\Program Files (x86)\Avira\AntiVir Desktop\updaterc.dll 13.6.0.1550
Library: C:\Program Files (x86)\Avira\AntiVir Desktop\update.dll 1.0.0.9
Plugin: C:\Program Files (x86)\Avira\AntiVir Desktop\updext.dll 13.6.0.1626
GUI: C:\Program Files (x86)\Avira\AntiVir Desktop\updgui.dll 13.6.3.1626

Temp Directory: C:\ProgramData\Avira\AntiVir Desktop\TEMP\UPDATE\
Backup folder: C:\ProgramData\Avira\AntiVir Desktop\BACKUP\
Installation Directory: C:\Program Files (x86)\Avira\AntiVir Desktop\
Updater folder: C:\Program Files (x86)\Avira\AntiVir Desktop\
AppData folder: C:\ProgramData\Avira\AntiVir Desktop\

Connection settings:
- Connection type: Web server
- Transfer type: Existing connection
Proxy settings: System settings used

2:33:18 [UPD] [INFO] Checking whether newer files are available.
2:33:18 [UPD] [INFO] Select update server 'http://80.190.148.74/update'.
2:33:18 [UPD] [INFO] Downloading of 'http://80.190.148.74/update/idx/master.idx' to 'C:\ProgramData\Avira\AntiVir Desktop\TEMP\UPDATE\idx\master.idx'.
2:33:39 [UPDLIB] [ERROR] Download manager: Connection failed while downloading the file http://80.190.148.74/update/idx/master.idx
2:33:39 [UPD] [INFO] Select update server 'http://80.190.148.75/update'.
2:33:39 [UPD] [INFO] Downloading of 'http://80.190.148.75/update/idx/master.idx' to 'C:\ProgramData\Avira\AntiVir Desktop\TEMP\UPDATE\idx\master.idx'.
2:34:00 [UPDLIB] [ERROR] Download manager: Connection failed while downloading the file http://80.190.148.75/update/idx/master.idx
2:34:00 [UPD] [INFO] Select update server 'http://89.105.213.17/update'.
2:34:00 [UPD] [INFO] Downloading of 'http://89.105.213.17/update/idx/master.idx' to 'C:\ProgramData\Avira\AntiVir Desktop\TEMP\UPDATE\idx\master.idx'.
2:34:21 [UPDLIB] [ERROR] Download manager: Connection failed while downloading the file http://89.105.213.17/update/idx/master.idx
2:34:21 [UPD] [INFO] Select update server 'http://89.105.213.18/update'.
2:34:21 [UPD] [INFO] Downloading of 'http://89.105.213.18/update/idx/master.idx' to 'C:\ProgramData\Avira\AntiVir Desktop\TEMP\UPDATE\idx\master.idx'.
2:34:42 [UPDLIB] [ERROR] Download manager: Connection failed while downloading the file http://89.105.213.18/update/idx/master.idx
2:34:43 [UPD] [INFO] Select update server 'http://68.142.123.254/update'.
2:34:43 [UPD] [INFO] Downloading of 'http://68.142.123.254/update/idx/master.idx' to 'C:\ProgramData\Avira\AntiVir Desktop\TEMP\UPDATE\idx\master.idx'.
2:35:04 [UPDLIB] [ERROR] Download manager: Connection failed while downloading the file http://68.142.123.254/update/idx/master.idx
2:35:04 [UPD] [INFO] Select update server 'http://68.142.122.70/update'.
2:35:04 [UPD] [INFO] Downloading of 'http://68.142.122.70/update/idx/master.idx' to 'C:\ProgramData\Avira\AntiVir Desktop\TEMP\UPDATE\idx\master.idx'.
2:35:25 [UPDLIB] [ERROR] Download manager: Connection failed while downloading the file http://68.142.122.70/update/idx/master.idx
2:35:25 [UPDLIB] [ERROR] No other server, update aborted
2:35:25 [UPD] [ERROR] Generation of update structure failed. UpdateLib delivers error 537.


Summary:
********
0 Files downloaded
0 Files installed

Friday, July 05, 2013 2:35:25 AM

The update failed!

Hi CoolCat, Make sure the computer is connected to the Internet, then retry to update Avira.

It is always on the internet when I am getting this message. I've actually been getting it for about the same amount of time that all of this situation has been going on but forgot to mention it. However, if I do it manually, it seems to work and update, ok. I tried the system restore as you suggested and that is something I am quite familiar with. I could not find a suitable restore point so I attempted to create one but it never showed in the list. There are a lot of restore points in there, all of them from June. Perhaps I need to get rid of those? I got the windows repair error message again when I rebooted last night after I was unable to find the suitable restore point, I went ahead and let the computer boot to a better configuration by pressing F8. I had to do that again, tonight as I got the error again when I was rebooting. This is truly getting ridiculous. What could be causing all of this? It's almost as though there is an error that causes this message to go off, although the computer starts to run slowly before it happens and I decide a full reboot is in order. Once I do, I get the windows repair window.

Hi CoolCat, Unfortunately, we might have reached a point where we need to consider restoring the computer back to the factory default settings. It appears that some core Windows files might be corrupt and we haven't had any success repairing them. The big downside of this is that all data will be lost. If you would like to take this route you would be best to back up any data you would like to keep. Backing up to an external hard drive would be the ideal method. Please give me your feedback on this.

Hi CoolCat,

Unfortunately, we might have reached a point where we need to consider restoring the computer back to the factory default settings. It appears that some core Windows files might be corrupt and we haven't had any success repairing them. The big downside of this is that all data will be lost. If you would like to take this route you would be best to back up any data you would like to keep.

Backing up to an external hard drive would be the ideal method.

Please give me your feedback on this.

Hi OCD,I am afraid you are correct in your decision and I have already been thinking this is what is going to have to happen. I will need a bit of time to get files in order to back up as I have 1000s of photos on the computer and I need to make sure they are in their correct folders (most already are) before I back them up. Otherwise, I would have a huge mess on my hands.How would we do this without a Windows CD, though?

Thanks much!

Hi CoolCat,

How would we do this without a Windows CD, though?

Most computers are shipped with a Recovery Partition installed. This will allow us to restore back to factory conditions.

Let me know when you have backed up your files and we can proceed from there.

OK, thank you, OCD.