Can't install anything?

[caseyagain]

I'm using Windows Vista Home Premium. I've had my laptop since Christmas and I haven't run into any problems until now. I've always been able to install normally. A day or two ago, the computer suddenly stopped being able to install anything. When I put in a disk or use Daemon tools, it comes up with the option to run setup.exe, and then it asks if I will allow it, but when I click yes nothing happens. There isn't even an error message. I just checked task manager and it appears that setup.exe doesn't even run.

I tried system restore, but it said that an error occurred and that nothing was changed. I deleted everything in the Program Files/Common Files/InstallShield/Professional/RunTime folder, per suggestion of another website, and that actually made something come up. In fact, every once in a while, the screen does come up to install, I enter the key, and it goes up to asking me where I want to install it... but when I push okay, it stops again.

Please help me?

 

[caseyagain]

I disabled all and it still didn't work.

 

[pinaplex]

try right clicking on the "setup.exe" file again, and "run as administrator"

 

[caseyagain]

That didn't work either.

 

[pinaplex]

what antivirus program are you running? sometimes the security on those will disable software installations. have you tried temporarily disabling your antivirus while you install the program?

 

[caseyagain]

I hadn't renewed my subscription to Norton, so it wasn't running. I renewed it an hour ago, and ran it (I thought there might be a virus). It came up with a tracking cookie thing, and I deleted it, but it's still not working.

 

[pinaplex]

hmm, i'm running out of possible ideas, but have you tried doing a repair installation? not a system restore, but an actual repair installation.

 

[caseyagain]

What's that, where you delete everything on the computer?

 

[notherdude]

you might have a virus. I encountered one recently on a PC I was working on (anti-spyware 2009, was the lovely name of this BEAST) - we couldn't get anything to run, no programs of any kind except maybe some here and there. I managed to get malwarebytes off a thumb drive but when I clicked to run it nothing would happen, nada, not even in safe mode.

We did a reinstall as this old XP install needed one anyway

 

[pinaplex]

No, stick windows setup cd in, reboot to it, when asked, select repair install. your app & data will be intact.

yea, what he said, =) it will just repair your system and leave everything else the same.