2ndDan13

Yes, I learned the lesson the hard way...and I should have known better is what's so aggravating! Caught me by surprise just after a major MS download, requiring me to open a MS account. The good news is, thanks to a good buddy who has the tools to fix things, I gained a clean drive and have successfully re-installed Win 7, downloaded Office 2013 and have my dual boot reestablished with PC Linux. The more I see it and with what MS is planning, I think Linux is a much better option. In any event, thank you all for your interest, tips and sharing your experiences.

Thanks for the responses. Curious about "Ease of Access"....didn't appear on the splash screen on the initial install. Curious computeerized voice they used to introduce it. As far as the Win 7 disk, it's retail and a gift from a trusted, tech/computer savvy friend. The initial issue was the inability to uninstall showmypc. Couldn't remove it from Program Files. Win 7 reinstalled without a hitch, but just when I thought I was out of the woods, I tried installing drivers from my Msi disk but was prevented from doing so. The crazy thing is that after using two anti-virus apps. and a anti-malware disk to scan the drive, it comes back clean. I did not attempt to restore the download of Office 2013, since I wasn't able to load necessary drivers or connect to the inet, so there's no chance that could be a source of infection. Thanks also for the info on the partitions. A good buddy of mine with both knowledge and tools to repair and diagnose computer problems currently has the drive and found the drive to be clean through several scans. We'll pop it back into my PC, boot it and see what we see. I'll post the results. Thanks again.

A week ago I installed Windows 7 and a day later downloaded Office 2013, after establishing a Microsoft account. The following day I received a call alleging to be Microsoft engineers stating they noticed significant infections on my desktop PC. They used showmypc to lead me around my computer and show me alleged virus evidence. I consider myself to be reasonably intelligent and pretty familiar with PCs, but the timing was right for the perps and I'm embarrased to say I fell hook, line and almost sinker. When the dust settled and I stopped just short of commiting my credit card for a $180 "license renewal", I disconnected from the call and tried to remove/uninstall showmypc. Unable to do this, I eventuially attempted a clean install with the Windows 7 disk. It allowed me to remove the existing two partitions and install Windows 7 on a new single partition. When the splash screen appeared, there was a small white icon in the lower left that was obviously not Microsoft generated, containing 4 or 5 "fishy" applet links and a very poor computerized voice describing them. I tried installing drivers from my Msi driver disk, which worked perfectly the first time, but this time got a error box stating the files couldn't be found. Rebooted the Win 7 disk and tried the repair option only to receive a message stating the repairs couldn't be accomplished. Used Trend Micro Titanium Anti-Virus and Windows Security Essentials but they found no virus or spyware. Thinking there might be a bug in the boot sector or MBR, launched bootrec.exe and tried to use FixMbr and FixBoot, but neither one was allowed to function.There are sites that chronicle similar incidences dating back a couple years, but nothing that I could find with a solution to my particular problem. Would appreciate any incite and suggestion that anyone might be able to provide. By the way, on a normal install of Windows 7, is there more than one partition created? Thanks.