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Hello all. I'm sort of computer illiterate, so I was wondering if someone might be able to help me with this...
When I first log on to my computer, I always get an "Error" window stating that it had a problem loading a program or something, then a separate window comes up stating that "Program is already installed!" How can I get rid of this error message (and the "program already installed" message)from coming up every time I log on the computer? It's not really a problem...it's just annoying. If anyone can give me help, I'd sure appreciate it. Thanks!!

You could uninstall in the Registry if you're careful about it. Go from Start to the Run dialog box, type in "regedit"(without the quotes), click OK. It might be wise to create a backup of the Registry first(but if you don't you can restore anyway through another procedure if you botch things up in there). Then go from Hkey local machine to Software to Microsoft to Windows to Current Version to Uninstall, look for the program name, right click it, then delete, then restart.

If you don't know what the registry is, don't go in there. One mistake and you can cause some huge problems.

Go to Start menu -> Run -> and type "msconfig"

When Msconfig comes up, go to the startup tab. See if the program that gives you the error is listed in that window. If it is: uncheck it.

If it isn't - then try the registry. Just be careful.

When this happened to me, it was some sort of Spyware causing the problem. I ran Spybot and AdAware and the problem went away.

Both programs are free (trial) downloads on the 'net. Might be worth a shot.

If you haven't tried the Registry remedy(which admittedly is a pretty risky venture until you're familiar enough with it), you could reboot in Safe mode, see if you can find the program in the Start up programs and delete. Also in Safe mode, go into the Control Panel's Add/remove program and delete it there. Lastly, type the name of the program in the "Find files and folders", click OK, right click and delete any references to it.

Steve's right. Go get some free Spyware killer. WinPatrol is another one that is free that will run constantly in the background and tell you when anything tries to load. For an extra 20 dollars it has some nice features that tell you all about the program in question. In any case, monkeying around with the registry should be a last resort. Especially if you are not familiar with it.

Yeah, as a non-techie I certainly wouldn't recommend tampering with your registry.

If you do, BACK IT UP FIRST. Tampering with the registry is a good way to end up with a computer that won't boot.

I too would recommend Lavasoft's Adaware software. It's free, and does a pretty comprehensive job of finding spyware.

Other than that, we might need some more specific messages as to the error messages you're getting, and the programs they refer to.

Steve's right. Run both programs. After done loading run their respective updates to get the latest reference files. I'd then boot-up in "safe mode" and run the programs from there. There are some forms of scumware that even when these scrubbers pick 'em up they come back -- they can recreate at next boot or logon. For what it's worth I'd also run "HiJack This" or "Toolbar Cop". There are some registry scrubs, but I'd not advise that rout unless, as already suggested you know what you're doing. And, finally, I'd dith IE as a browser and get mozilla or Maxtor.

Good luck!

N.