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[deadlycairn]

Just recently my computer has been acting up really badly, and I have no idea what is causing it. First problem showed up when I deleted Norton Antivirus and tried to download Avast! instead. The setupeng.exe installation file refused to work, it told me that if i was using Internet Explore (which I wasn't), I might need to clear my temporary internet folders. I did this, and it still didn't work. At the time i just ignored it, however the same problem showed up when I tried to download Cave Story. Then again with DoomRL. And AGAIN with Stone Soup, with and without tiles. Without fail, the download would cancel and tell me that either a file was corrupted, or something else had failed. I KNOW those downloads aren't corrupted, as I downloaded them on my (much older) other computer and they ran fine. The only thing I can think of is Vista screwing with me (I'd never attempted to download these files before on this computer, to the best of my knowledge), or Norton messing with my computer from beyond the grave.
Any ideas

[Dragooble]

the only thing i can come up with is, sometime after you deleted norton, you got a virus that is somehow preventing you from downloading things.

[deadlycairn]

Don't think so - I attempted to download Avast immediately after deleting Norton.

[Tahin]

Norton has been known to do unpleasant things to your computer when you uninstall it... Try reformatting, or search for a third-party uninstaller of some kind.

[deadlycairn]

...I'm not really good with computers, so sorry in advance if this is an idiotic question.

How do I reformat my computer, what does it do, exactly, and are there any unpleasant side-effects?

EDIT: Things are worse than I first thought. I can't play TF2, and at random times pages won't load correctly, displaying lines of gibberish instead of the actual content.

@Tahin - my experience with Norton is that it does nasty tings to your computer when it IS installed. Most overpriced load of garbage I've ever seen, which is why I tried to replace it with Avast.

[Mephisto]

The unpleasant side effects include losing everything not backed up and having to sit through the Windows installation.

I would recommend not doing this unless you know for sure that you have a Windows installation disk. My old computer, for instance, did not come with one, forcing me to acquire one elsewhere.

[Anfold]

Data corruption like that isn't likely to be caused by a virus, most malware is trying to make money off of you, so it needs a good internet connection.

Is it just things on the internet that are messing up? Can you load things off of CD onto the hard drive w/o corrupting the files?  Is there any noise on the phone line (that I am assuming you use -- just pick it up and listen).  You said something about an older computer, does it use the same phone jack to connect?

If you still think that it is software try opening up the task manager and closing everything but the system processes and the explorer task, then download something.  If you use broadband try resetting the router (unplug it for a few minutes, that's all it takes).  If you're gonna reinstall go for the XP goodness that isn't poorly implemented proof of the nee for more professional beta testing.

[deadlycairn]

Is it worth mentioning that sometimes pictures don't load correctly, displaying random pixellated colours or blank boxes? Or that my ability to use interactive content (eg. flash, youtube) is hit and miss? If I don't fix this soon, I'll go crazy - and i don't think reformatting is an option. Only things off the internet are messing up, and the older computer is somewhat inaccessible - its on the other side of the country. I've got wireless broadband, and the family computer is completely unaffected by whatever the hell is messing with my compy. I'll try the Task Manager thing now, lets hope THAT works.

EDIT: No that did not work. Never heard of a virus doing this before, and the only other thing that's changed is my removal of Norton.

[Makrond]

Hmm... if this is indeed Norton causing trouble from beyond the grave, I would think it's time to be writing angry letters.

Also, try this. If that doesn't fix it, well... start writing angry but polite emails.

[deadlycairn]

All I know is that SOMETHING is corrupting the data I'm receiving from the internet. As far as i can tell, this is manifesting itself as faulty pictures, dud flash games and youtube videos, and, of course, failed downloads. I tried downloading AVG antivirus, but again, it said that the file was corrupt.

Downloading the Norton removal tool, however, I have little hope for its non-corruption. Any solutions not requiring download would be appreciated.

EDIT: Well, I was partially wrong. The Norton removal tool worked, I uninstalled Norton, and restarted my compy. However initial tests are still showing broken images and flash games. Downloading Avast now - here's hoping it's not corrupted. In addition to removing Norton, I've made two other changes (both today, while the problems started a while ago) - I've updated Mozilla Firefox, and reinstalled my modem's software.
Keep posting solutions, I have a feeling it's not fixed.

EDIT2: Yup, download failed. Suggestions as to how to scan for/remove virii without antivirus software appreciated, as well as any way of diagnosing the problem. My family came to the conclusion (after an excruciating 10 minute analysis) that I have a 'sick' computer - so there is no help from that quarter.

[Anfold]

Run scandisk, see what that says.
Re-install if you have any bad sectors or file system errors.

If you continue to have problems, buy a new hardrive.

As for people who are bad with computers, I once went to help out a friend who complained that his computer was too buggy and refused to even boot up.  Told him I'd look at it, probably just mad a mistake in his BIOS settings.  He brings it over, big black tower.  and just like he said, it refused to start up, and would even shutdown before the boot screen came on, so I had to open it up.  Damn thing was filled with roaches and other things to horrible to mention.  I sprayed it down with raid (I sure as fuck didn't want those bastards running around my house) told him the bugs had eaten all of his internal componats and that he should buy a new one.

[deadlycairn]

His computer really was buggy!

Talking to an IT guy today - hopefully he'll know what's going on. Got ordered to get the Windows Removal Tool, decided not to point out I need to know what to remove before i can use it.

[Il Palazzo]

Can you not use the system restore tool(XP has it, so probably Vista has it too)?
You could get back to the point before you've unistalled Norton, then download Norton removal tool(and anti-vir) and see what happens.

[deadlycairn]

The IT guy told me what I didn't want to hear. It being nigh impossible to check for virii without antivirus software or the means of getting it - my best bet is to use the restore disk - deleting everything and restoring the defaults. This time round I'll stifle my hatred for Norton and leave things be - at least this is a new computer, and it broke just before I could start getting software on it, so i only have one thing to back up. I'll be spending the next few hours updating my comp and re-installing everything.

[Mephisto]

It wasn't possible to download an AV on the old PC and transfer it with a flash drive or something?