Thank you both for your replies to my problem. At the present time I am not that confident with my computer skills, to use the fix that you graciously supplied Owbist and will hold on to your linked information for now. I did post the problem into the LanzDownForum, as suggested by Ravencajun, along with the requested logs, Etc. As I stated before my computer skills are not great and because of my nervousness about screwing things up worse than they already are, I may have to call in an "expert" to assist me with all of this. I do however appreciate both of you taking the time to help me out with this problem and the advice that you kindly give. Onward and upward!

Thanks, Raven. I'm sure he's behind on lots of stuff. Early in 2009, I had him change his update settings to notify him of updates, but not automatically download. That was to hold off on sp1 (at a time when I think I read here that folks were having trouble with it - but I didn't follow that topic, so didn't realize sp1 had become a good idea and that sp2 followed). We also set it that way bc. his computer was automatically updating and then rebooting when he was in the middle of doing other things. So this was to allow him to time his own downloads and installations. But he just never thought of it - and I didn't think I needed to keep track for him. I do keep track of his Avast, superantispyware, malwarebyte and spywareblaster. Every now and then when he's done surfing I have him leave out the laptop and go ahead and update and scan. I'll have to keep track of more than that, obviously. I got foxit reader on my ancient laptop in my office and love it. It takes so little room and does what I need quickly. Do you like pdf-xchange viewer more than foxit reader? Or does he need to use firefox to use foxit reader? I installed firefox for him - and set up tabs with the places he likes to go (did that in the summer) - but he hasn't used it. He's a bit resistant to tech changes. He balked when I got Tivo's - although he loves it now. He's a musician - and I got him Protools so he could record the music he wrote. That was over 1 1/2 years ago - and he hasn't learned it yet - he's barely scratched the surface. Last spring he bought an Imac bc. it was better for recording music. And now he's finally setting up his den and equipment. I'm hoping he'll actually learn the software this year. I'll take care of the rest for him so the only learning curve he has is Protools (certainly the most challenging of them all). But I digress. I'll check his other updates and run Secunia - I'm pretty sure I already put that on his computer last year. Thanks. Lynn.

OK. You need to focus on getting windows up date working first before anything, The next thing to try is running System file checker, To run the System File Checker, complete these steps: 1. Click Start, and then type cmd in the Start Search box. 2. In the results area, right-click cmd.exe, and then click Run as administrator. You will be prompted to type the password for an administrator account. Click Continue if you are the administrator or type the administrator password. Then, click Continue. 3. At the command prompt, type Sfc /scannow, and then press ENTER.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/defender/support.mspx And, Windows Vista is an operating system made by Microsoft which contains a built in malware protection tool called Windows Defender, which can also be downloaded and run as a stand alone service for Windows XP. Windows Defender is a part of the Vista operating system, so it cannot be removed without risking total failure of the operating system. Hence, for Vista users, Defender should be disabled if it's services are not needed. In Windows XP, the stand alone install of Defender can be uninstalled normally. http://www.ehow.com/how_4881875_uninstall-windows-defender-manually.html