problems loading software

i'm having problems loading backup software that came bundled with an external hard drive i purchased. i spent four hours on the phone with tech support yesterday trying different methods to get it loaded and none of us had any luck. is it possible that one of my anti-virus or firewall programs is blocking the backup program? i disabled McAfee, but there are many pop-up blockers, anti-spam, etc. type programs on my PC. short of reformatting my hard drive is there any way to shut these all down temporarily to try and get this loaded and then re-activate. i want to do a comprehensive clean-up of my hard drive, that's why i'm trying to get a backup done to an external to have it there in case (when) i screw up. my wife's computer was hit by a worm (started continuously) and reformatting was the fix for her. luckily she was able to get some data recovery of pics and important files. i would like to avoid any such disaster and am reluctant to spend time on-line without prorection. confused

 

What version of Windows are you running? Knowing that will let someone give you the quickest, easiest way of temporarily shutting down all protection.