Friends PC can't run any installers

[Jintan]

Those steps are to recreate the Hosts file, when something has altered it and is also blocking normal accesses. So for us the first bit was to just make sure it wasn't malware altered. Malware would tend to include references like these:

Code:

[noparse]127.0.0.1       malwarebytes.org
127.0.0.1       www.malwarecrypt.com
127.0.0.1       sophos.com[/noparse]

Which would cause attempts to access those sites to be redirected back to the local system.

[ChrisN]

ugh, they don't have a recovery CD, they said PC's don't come with them. I think we'll have to reinstall Windows, We backed up files

[Jintan]

If they have an actual XP CD, then a Repair Install, which leaves all the current user's data intact, should correct installer errors (it is one of the suggested repairs for this). But I am surprised we have not arrived at a point where the scan logs provide the needed info. A Repair Install is basically the same as doing an upgrade, but in this case it is upgrading XP to XP, and returns most of the default Windows files and settings. The install will return to the system to whatever level of Service Pack is on the CD, so all upgrades and patches will have to be reinstalled after.

Here are some steps for a Repair Install, and if you have any questions after reviewing them be sure to ask.