XP Hangs when installing / modifying software

Hello,

First time posting.. Basically in the last 2 days I have had real issues with my HP ZV6170CA laptop. Running XP with SP3 and have been since the upgrade was out.

The problem has been just today and yesterday that I cannot run any of my registry utilities such as MaxSecure or even edit options on Trackseraser Pro without the program window just hanging. I can't shut the program down at all even by trying to end the process from the task manager. I have F-Secure as the antivirus/firewall software that came from my ISP if that helps. But I was going to install a copy of Comodo antivirus to see if it would catch anything extra, and it won't load to install. It shows in the task manager as present, but nothing happens.

I have run scans for viruses, nothing to report. My SpyBot S&D doesn't show any malware either. The most concerning is that it will not run the software off my backup drive Redemption. I started the unit in Safe Mode and everything works much more reliably and no hangs.

How do I find some information on troubleshooting this?

Thanks in advance!

EDIT: Moved from XP to Am I Infected ~ Hamluis.

Edited by hamluis, 18 June 2010 - 04:13 PM.

Hello,

I am not knowledgeable enough to help with your main problem of not being able to run certain of your software programs, but I did notice a potential problem with your antivirus setup.

Antivirus programs are designed to have only one of them running active at a time, as having more than one trying to run simultaneously can cause all kinds of weird problems. My recommendation is to try uninstalling the most recently installed antivirus program, so that you then only have the original F-Secure program running, and see if this helps any.