Long story. A while back, I visited the CHF, and was directed in getting rid of a program which had hijacked my installshield. Now, I am unable to install or uninstall anything because in the process, the installshield was either damaged or disabled.
Wednesday evening, I left and turned off my machine, a 4-year-old Dell PC. When I returned and turned the computer back on, Sunday afternoon, my computer was connected to the internet, but Firefox, IE, and AIM refused to connect. Now, what I did notice is that the modem lights are still on, the computer claims to have full access to the net (but cannot send packets in network tests...), and the cord definitely works (am using it and the network to use my roommate's computer to make this post). I asked the guys at Circuit City, I did a system restore to try and repair any weird software malfunctions which may have occurred, and I did my best to try and clean up the physical memory in case that was hindering my connection.
What I noticed earlier today was that a long-defunct version of Sygate Firewall, which I hadn't seen since I last tried to uninstall nearly a year ago, appeared in my Add/Remove Programs list. I tried to uninstall it again, but it gave me an error message along the lines of "Catastrophic Failure" and mentioned the installshield being damaged.
I'm incredibly frustrated. As a college student with limited funds, who tries her damndest to take care of her old computer, and needs her computer to be able to take online classes, I'm panicking.
I guess the question is: Could the old firewall be blocking my access to the internet? It doesn't seem to be on, and when I try to turn it on the computer can't find it in the system. If it is blocking my access, is there a way to remove it without my installshield or repair the shield? Please, please help. If you think I should post this in the software forum, let me know and I'll copy it there. Thanks!
-Dassala
