Quite a read, but the only thing I see that might apply to my situation is that I have free Zone Alarm as my firewall. It never caused a problem in the past, but I'm wondering if the latest update has something to do with this. By the way, another recent thread referring to firewalls had some interesting information indicating that ZA might not be such a good choice any more. I tried Comodo and found it nagged too much, but I'm thinking of trying the one a poster on that thread recommended. Since I have a firewall via a router, maybe I'll shut down ZA and try the System Restore. I still like having a software firewall on each computer, however.

In some cases when a hard drive starts going, there will be a password prompt. With persistance in taking it out and putting it back, you might be able to get in once and salvage what files you need. Otherwise, the HDD is probably toast and what is there is gone

Sorry I didn't mention what I have running. I have WindowsXP. I have Norton Internet Security. I ran Malwarebytes (a full scan). Anyway, I thought if I did a system restore I could install my printer. This is the second new printer I have tried to install. It just continually loops and doesn't install. I removed any printer that had been installed on my computer. Here is the result of my scan:Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware 1.40 Database version: 2670 Windows 5.1.2600 Service Pack 3 8/29/2009 4:06:04 AM mbam-log-2009-08-29 (04-06-04).txt Scan type: Full Scan (C:\:) Objects scanned: 275483 Time elapsed: 1 hour(s), 57 minute(s), 9 second(s) Memory Processes Infected: 0 Memory Modules Infected: 1 Registry Keys Infected: 4 Registry Values Infected: 1 Registry Data Items Infected: 0 Folders Infected: 0 Files Infected: 1 Memory Processes Infected: (No malicious items detected) Memory Modules Infected: C:\Program Files\alot\bin\alot.dll (Adware.BHO) -> Delete on reboot. Registry Keys Infected: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\"5aa2ba46-9913-4dc7-9620-69ab0fa17ae7> (Adware.BHO) -> Quarantined and deleted successfully. HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchScopes\"5aa2ba46-9913-4dc7-9620-69ab0fa17ae7> (Adware.BHO) -> Quarantined and deleted successfully. HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Ext\Stats\"5aa2ba46-9913-4dc7-9620-69ab0fa17ae7> (Adware.BHO) -> Quarantined and deleted successfully. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Browser Helper Objects\"5aa2ba46-9913-4dc7-9620-69ab0fa17ae7> (Adware.BHO) -> Quarantined and deleted successfully. Registry Values Infected: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Toolbar\"5aa2ba46-9913-4dc7-9620-69ab0fa17ae7> (Adware.BHO) -> Quarantined and deleted successfully. Registry Data Items Infected: (No malicious items detected) Folders Infected: (No malicious items detected) Files Infected: C:\Program Files\alot\bin\alot.dll (Adware.BHO) -> Delete on reboot. I am so computer challenged. Is this what I needed to do? What do I do next? Thank you for any help you can give me.

no it will not, all that will happen is that next time you go to the windows update page it may re-run the scan to do the authentication, but it might not even do that. It is a super simple procedure you just select a date from the calendar that it shows you that has restore points listed and then tell it to restore to that date and time, it will reboot your pc and it will take longer to reboot than normal and it will come up saying it is restoring your pc, so just be patient. these are good guides Restore a Windows XP system System Restore