Right...I now have a thumb drive with today's versions of .exe files for Firefox, MWBAM, SuperAS, CCleaner, Avast, Avast Uninstaller, CCleaner, Win Patrol and Revo. It'll be 2 weeks before I can do this computer clean-up. Doing this all off-line, should I uninstall old Revo first, then install current Revo and use that to uninstall other programs one by one? And run new CCleaner after each uninstall? Any flaws in this plan? Appreciate any advice! Regards, Shax

Hi guys, sorry for being a bit tarrdy in getting back to you, but I have been busy painting, in between trying to find out what caused this problem. What I have done so far is a couple of sytem restores which unfortunately,did not cure the problem. Checked the events log for errors or whatever, prior to using or after ccleaner. It shows "warning" re installer and "error" re, installer on the evening of 4th June. No details on what the warning or error is about? On the sytem restore, I went back to the 4th, June, in the morning. This puts everything back to where it was before these warnings etc, came up on the events log. Uninstalled Java and re-installed latest version......verifyed instal;lation...okay. Problem still there! There is no error message just the pop-up box with Windows Installer printed on a blue background along the top. Below is the message, "Preparing to install............. Below that in the bottom right corner is the cancel button. It does not ask that any action be taken or for a CD or anything else. It just sits there for around 20 seconds then drops out.Or it will drop out and come back up again two or three times. Each time it drops out, I can hear the hard drive "grunt". At least I think it is the hard drive thats "grunting"? [It can't be happy with this situation either!] As soon as it drops out for the last time the site or file that I had selected/clicked on comes up. It has me stumped! "Horton"

Colin - your explanations of restore, system restore, back up, etc were very helpful. They were a very useful edition to what Ravencajun wrote - it didn't seem repetitive to me. I think I can really use any reiteration at this point. Now I actually understand that the system can be backed up to a hidden spot on the hard drive as well as my backing it up on dvd - to be used in the event that the hard drive back up doesn't work. By George, I think I've got it...........Well - at least that part. I'm not sure that I saw any option to create a back up start-up disk. Was that automatically included when I backed up the entire hard drive - or is there a separate step I should take? I also realize that I hadn't understood what you meant by blue button. I was looking at an actual blue button the thinkpad keyboard. Will that button do - or should I be looking for something else. I didn't not notice any blue buttons on the screen (except the Avast buttons in the task bar). Raven - I have a question about revo uninstaller. What would it uninstall? I noticed that I have Office on my computer but I don't know if it came with Office - or if this is a trial program. Is there a way I can figure that out? If it's a trial, I'd like to remove it. If it's permanent, I'll keep it. I know I did not get Microsoft Word with this and thought I had chosen no office software. I was planning on getting open office for the few times I might need to work on a word document (working on a document that is in Word on my desktop). Zep - good point about the printer software. I know when I chose the Canon mx850 and was researching printers, these were considered much better in terms of minimal bloatware (than say the HP's). I know when I installed the software on my desktop (and my daughter's) that several files were installed, but I think I want them all. The computer is networked so I can scan documents to any of our computers - print from any computer, fax from any computer, etc. I'm not sure how I would determine if any of those canon files are bloatware. More on my progress: -I did do all the lenovo updates. -ran javara and updated java and removed old programs. -installed and ran malwarebytes, spywareblaster. Any particular settings I should choose for spywareblaster,malwarebytes or Avast? I have so far just chosen the defaults - but don't know if I should "protect?" cookies - or anything else. And I just realized that I forgot to install superantispyware. For Avast, I did not set up scans on the screensaver - because at this point I will be turning the computer off if it is not being used for a while. If I just happen to walk away for 20 minutes or so, I don't want a scan automatically running that I have to wait to finish - or interrupt and cancel it - and run it manually later. Does it seem okay to just run it manually? If so, how often? Maybe I should use the screensaver option? I think "protecting (I know that's the wrong word - unselecting ?) cookies was for ccleaner - not anti-spyware programs. Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong. So now I'm off to get superantispyware - run secunia and get any necessary updates - and set up the printer software. This is extremely gratifying to be able to do this (with everyone's help). It really helps me to understand what's going on with my computer. Thanks. Lynn. PS - if I get open office, is there anyplace in particular I should download it from? Are there parts to download and parts to avoid - or do I just download the whole program?

Okay.....I did both updates, and then I ran JavaRa and removed all old versions. But then I went to the Mozilla Plugin Check Page, and saw that it still listed my Java as old and outdated. So I said okay, and I clicked Update--whereupon we went through the installation process again. However, the previous time I selected the 64-bit version because that's what my computer is, and this time I chose the 32-bit version. Now Mozilla says all my plug-ins are current and secure. Of course, I still can't load MSNBC and assorted other sites with Firefox. :-/ Since we've made all these changes, do you think it would help if I uninstalled and reinstalled Firefox?