Hi, bonger31!
First thing (as I'm sure you already know), do NOT send the fake program people any money!!! You'll just be out the $$ and the virus(es) will remain. It's all a scam.
I'm far, far from an expert, but I'll try to help.
As I understand it, you have purchased Norton, but hadn't installed it yet before you got infected, and now you can't install it?
Before you try installing it in safe mode, check to see if there's a name for the fake program at the top of the page or popup that you get. You said that there's an icon resembling the Windows shield, see what name if any follows it. Then go into your Add & Remove Programs folder and see if you find that same thing there. If you do (and you're sure that it's the one), remove it from there with the Remove button.
THEN go in to safe mode and try installing Norton.
I had a really bad infection in my laptop two years ago, and I got very good advice from one of the admins here. It was not the same infection you have, from the sounds of it, but the general advice -- which saved my laptop -- is most likely applicable to your situation as well.
Here's a link to that discussion:
http://she-geeks.com/forum/windows-b43/running-ff-but-getting-ie-windowspopups/Also, as Swytch has advised since then, take lots of notes concerning the infected popups you get, as there can be lots of clues there that will help in dealing with them.
Good luck, and post back as to how it goes, OK?
