Can't run certain programs any more

[robroy6]

Recently I have not been able to run certain programs. I have used PSP9, PSPX, PSPX2 for years to do image editing and manipulating. Now, when I click on a shortcut to run one of these progs nothing happens. If I look at Task Manager I see the program name in "Processes" and it's memory usage is about 17KB. But nothing appears on the screen.
In the last month or so I have been trying to run BitDefender (BD). When it does not run I contacted the BD experts who told me it was probably a conflict with another anti-virus prog I had installed. So, with their advise, I uninstalled (KILLED) Spybot, Ashampoo WinOptimizer and AD-Aware one by one and rebooted and tried to get BD to install between each KILL but no good.

I also saw that my Jasc PSP9 was not loading so I KILLED it and reinstalled it from the original CD but it still reacted the same. I did the same procedure to get Corel PSPX to run but the same behavior happened.
I downloaded Corel Photo Downloader and installed it with the same behavior (run it and see it in Task Manager but no program on screen).
For killing the various programs I used Revo Uninstaller Pro.

System is: Dell Dimension 4600i, XP Pro SP3, 3 MB Ram, mucho HDD space on 3 internal and 5 external USB drives, 2 printers, 1 CD and 1 DVD.

 

[BobbyCam]

I would in the first instance advise you to run malwarebytes, there is a free version you can install (just dont start the trial when it asks you)

http://www.malwarebytes.org/products/malwarebytes_free/

Run a quick scan initially and if it finds anything fix it, restart in safe mode, and run a full scan.

 

[goombawaho]

I'd do a memory test absolutely first as bad memory can cause bizarre behavior and not always a blue screen.

BEFORE MBAM, I'd run TDSS Killer and then Rogue Killer to see what they detect. MBAM is not great at detecting rootkits but
WILL clean out more mundane malware. Clean out temp files with CCleaner before doing any of the scans.