problems with the read and run me

i've has very positive results using this site to fix computer problems and i've been able to solve many of the things on mine and friends' computers (so thanks already for that). i always start off by following all the steps in the read and run me thread to do before asking for support, however i'm now trying to solve things on my sister's computer (in the u.k., i'm not sure if this makes a difference), and i'm having a lot of problems downloading the programs on the list. they usually download and install alright, but they freeze when i try to run them. are there alternative options i can use to try understand what's wrong?

 

sorry I wasn't very specific and it's taken me a while to get back, i'm currently in London... All of them freeze up except Ad-Aware SE (which freezes when i try to get updates though) and CCleaner... actually Ad-Aware sometimes stops responding too sometimes. In addition, there are some other strange things... HijackThis works, I tried doing a log and going to some of the basic sites where you can post a log and a computer tells you if something is seriously wrong, but it didn't find anything. I've attached a log here, I'm not sure if it's useful or not, if it isn't I can always delete this post.
Also there are other strange things that happen... for example, if the internet connection is enabled, I can't shut down the computer. AIM freezes when it tries to run. Often when I go to www.hotmail.com, the internet unexpectedly quits and gives me a message asking if I want to send an error report. Also, there is a box from Norton that comes up that says "to join this network, choos the security settings you want to use" and whatever selection I make it just keeps coming back up, so in order to use internet I have to drag it to the bottom of the screen and not answer it.
I'm pretty sure I did the alternative scans in step 8 and they froze up but to be honest I'm not fully sure so I'll try them again.
Also- should I be running in safe mode or not? Because if I'm in safe mode then I can't enable the internet (and I have to disable it if Iwant to shut down...). Sorry I'm such a newbie at this!