Not a valid win32 application problem

[Baheer]

Hi,


I have recently got a problem. it says .exe is not a valid win32 application. I don't know why this has happened. I have tried getting AVG or Norton internet security, but when i try to download AVG it says access denied when installing and Norton doesn't open when i run as administrator. I am on a 64bit device so I don't really understand why I'm getting this error.


Please Help me!

Thanks

 

[ccs]

The first step is to identify where this program is starting from. The easy place (not likely) would be in the start folder. More likely its in the registry though. Download CCleaner (free) and use the Tools/Startup option to identify where this is run from. You can disable it from within CCleaner and/or use Regedit (carefully) to remove the registry entry where it is located. Once it have been disabled and/or removed, run your favorite A/V and see if it detects anything else. More than likely, this is a malware program who's main executable got corrupted.

 

[allheart55 (Cindy E)]

It could be but it sounds more like a malware infection to me. One of the symptoms is the inability to install and/or run any security programs.

 

[Rich-M]

Yeah me too. Did you have an Antivirus on your system already without uninstalling it? Even if its old it has to go first. And actually few of us have seen a real virus in years anyway, you would be better off installing and running Malwarebytes to update and scan and I would say if you cannot do that, you need to post in our Malware Forum with the logs the Security Mods require then. www.malwarbytes.org and there is a free version.