Stopped spam and all comments

I think I followed the recommended methods , installed TG’s code and then another code suggested at the bottom of the page of information.
Then I got an error when I tried to test by putting in a comment – the line number (87) was blank and not part of anything I had changed as far as i could see. I had to do some work then.
Came back to the machine and tried to make another comment so I could copy the actual error message – “comment closed” (but, of course, not according to my settings).
Should I just re-upload the original wp-comments.php and wp-comments-post.php
This is like a jigsaw where a different piece goes missing every day.