Can't Download Software To See If I Have A Virus Or Not

My computer has been playing up for a few weeks, I don't know if it's a virus, or just a damaged OS. I can't download any software, or updates for Firefox, and it's very difficult to use the internet, pages take forever to load, and I get frequent "server not found messages", which clear up after refreshing. And I can no longer bring up functions by pressing the Fn key on the keyboard.

This seems to be happening on internet explorer as well, and I can't update superantispyware or spybot.

Something happened a day or so before this started and I didn't take much notice at the time - the battery got low and the laptop lost power, I think, before it could do an emergency shutdown, and I saw it do this again a few days later. Could this have damaged the OS? In which case I just need to do a reinstall?

 

A re-install should only be done after you have exhausted all troubleshooting steps.
Start with the System File Checker.

Here's an easy way to do it - just run the batch file in the zip archive. Once completed, upload the log file.
https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/sfc_utility.html

 

Ok, done

 

The log shows no errors.

Before we continue, which version of Windows are you running?

 

Windows 7 home premium

 

Here are instructions to run a Check Disk.
https://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/guide-to-using-check-disk-in-windows-vista/

 

After I did chkdsk, browsing was a bit faster, but I still had trouble downloading stuff. This morning, it's all bad again.

 

The log shows no problems.

Download Tweaking.com - Windows Repair on another PC.
This is the portable version.
http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/tweaking_com_windows_repair_portable.html

• Extract the files to a flash drive.

• Restart the problem PC in "Safe Mode With Networking" and connect the flash drive.

• Run the program.

• Take your time and follow the instructions carefully.

• Restart the PC and run the program a second time.

 

Its not a hard-drive issue, your infected thats all.
Back-up and clean install.
If your running any sort of late model hardware, just configure a Win10 USB boot device from an 8G flash drive and get a license key for Win10 Pro for $28 USD.

I shouldn't be telling you my secrets!

 

I can't get any of the online scans to work, and I don't have access to another computer to download tweaking or anything else, so, reinstall then, I guess?

 

yeah, I made reinstall disks years ago, as long as they still work.

 

Do you have an Android smart phone?
Or the Windows 7 disk?

 

A valid and good point, but through my experience nothing beats a fresh start.
It still bugs me why people are scared of it?

In about an hour or so, i can have you running like a well oiled machine, or i can spend a day or two running a rescue that may not work anyway, unless you have a restore point or a saved image.
Sadly, most dont!