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Webroot turned off, cannot turn back on or install?!?

  • 17 June 2012
  • 3 replies
  • 871 views

Like a fool I allowed a family member to use my PC against my better judgment this afternoon and now I'm regretting it as all hell has literally broken loose.
 
Long story short I restarted my PC about an hour ago and when it loaded back into Windows (7 ultimate edition x64) it was instantly clear there was a problem. I won't go through all the details but I noticed Webroot wasn't running anymore and Windows was prompting me to turn it back on. When I went to do so instead of Webroot running I was presented with the Webroot installation window instead. I entered my key (Webroot Secure Anywhere) and I got the following message -
 
"Webroot could not be installed. This could potentially be caused by malware on the computer. Would you like to try installing with a randomized filename?"
 
The latter option doesn't work and as a result I cannot get Webroot running again.
 
I've scanned the PC using Emsisoft Anti-malware which found three suspicious items and deleted them. All subsequent scans come back clean but Webroot still won't start/install.
 
Any ide what I can try next?
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Best answer by MikeR 17 June 2012, 22:48

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Userlevel 7
Hey Griff!
 
Welcome to the forum. 😃 A do it yourself solution for this would be to make a temporary user with administrative permission. This should allow you to download SecureAnywhere onto the administrative user account and run a scan to remove any threats from the entire system. You could also do a system restore to a previous Windows update when your computer was running the way it is supposed to.
 
Below are instructions to create a new, "test" user account.  Follow the instructions that are correct for your operating system. After you have created the 'test' user you can then run the SecureAnywhere installer and perform a system scan!
 
- Windows 7 -
1.   Click the Start button.
2.   Open the Control Panel.
3.   Click User Accounts and Family Safety, then click User Accounts.
4.   Click Create a new account.
5.   Name the account "Webroot Test".  Select "Administrator" as the account type.
6.   Now click Create Account.
 
- Windows Vista -
1.   Click the Start button.
2.   Open the Control Panel.
3.   Click User Accounts and Family Safety, then click User Accounts.
4.   Click Manage another account.  If prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
5.   Click Create a new account.
6.   Name the account "Webroot Test".  Select "Administrator" as the account type.
7.   Now click Create Account.
 
- Windows XP -
1.   Click the Start button.
2.   Open the Control Panel.
3.   Click User Accounts.
4.   In the "Pick a task" list box, choose Create a new account.
5.   Name the account "Webroot Test".  Select "Administrator" as the account type.
6.   Now click Create Account.
 
Please let me know how these instructions work for you and if the issue has been resolved. If you need to you can always open a support ticket for free virus and advanced malware removal. 😉
System restore is not an option as I disabled it a long time ago. (Running a small SSD so wanted to save the space).
 
I'm already using an administrator account but using that installer you linked to seemed to do the trick.
 
This is the message I was getting previously -
 
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v427/griff_90/8bb84123.png
 
EDIT - Webroot working fine again now. Thanks! Not sure why I was getting the message above before but using the installed you linked to worked. 
Userlevel 7
Hey I am glad it worked!
 
Just for clarification purposes, even if you are an administrative user, the instructions I had provided often work for removing nasty malware which is preventing an anti-virus program from doing its job. I just wanted to clarify because I think this thread can be useful to others! :D
 
Please let me know if you need further assistance.