virus with vlc download

[petiteGMT]

Greetings

I searched past forum questions/comments and saw four that made reference to "virus-laden codecs" (wow that is so true) and one about take care where you download your VLC from.

Mine was downloaded from CNET at the end of February by a tech. I did not know there was a site and usually CNET should have clean copies but you can't be sure of anything.
I am wondering if anyone else has encountered a problem with a download from any other site but here? My notebook started behaving strange, hard drive freezing, and then it really got wild. All the while VLC would get corrupted and I'd have to uninstall and re-install.
Does anyone know of any specific type of virus/trojan/malware that people have come across, and -- most important -- how to get rid of it?
Thanks in advance and I appreciate any suggestions/help. In hindsight, I'm sure that's what has happened. Oh by the way the CNET download is no longer available.
I have windows 7 pro 64-bit. I've been on micrsoft.com and ran their get rid of malware scan but I don't think it helped.
GMT

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

A lot of people have scammy versions of VLC, which adds toolbars, adwares, or other crap.

The best is to run an antimalware to clean it.