Cannot download any clean-ups from major geeks

I'm working on my friend's e-machine pc with WinXP Home SP2 & am trying to work through the Read & Run Me thread in the malware forum, but am unable to download any files from geeks, even CCleaner from the Home Page/Drive Cleaners location. I get a box popping up with a red X in it saying, "The requested lookup key was not found in any active activation content." And can then go NO further with the download. I tried resetting my Internet Options settings to medium low with pop-up blocker unchecked & putting Geeks in the "Trusted Site" zone. Also tried holding down Ctrl key when attempting to download, but to no avail. I disabled the Comcast Toolbar & Pop-Up Blocker, still with no change. The pc has an old version of Norton's on it & I tried using a Norton's Removal Tool from a CD that I had downloaded from Geeks, but couldn't get the Tool exe file to open from the CD...tried everything I know of. I do believe this pc is infected, but do not know where to start, since I cannot download any of the cleaners to start the Read & Run Me process. I did not try running pc in safe mode with networking support to download files...oops...maybe this may work? Any ideas, as I'm at a loss here.:confused Thanks in advance! Shanrene

 

Hi shanerene!

Do you have administrative rights which allow you to download things?

If you have administrative rights, try Firefox or another browser, and installing directly with the links in the READ & RUN ME FIRST

abri

 

Thanks, Abri! I did have administrative rights, so that didn't seem to be the problem. I did a complete reformat from the recovery partition, & now pc is up & running & downloading things from geeks without problem. I appreciate your time & your reply. Happy Holidays! Shanrene

 

Thanks for letting me know, shanrene!
I hope your holidays are light and enjoyable.
abri