Help! Total loss of power

My car just lost total power while driving to work. The brand new Optima battery is reading about 4.5 volts. Ok, no problem, figure the voltage regulator or alternator went out and I was driving on battery alone for 60 miles. This was with lights on, dash fan, and engine fans on.
The strange thing is when I hook up my battery charger and set it to 2amp (trickle charge) the charger maxes over 8amps charging and then shuts off after a few minutes. I tried the fast charge 6amp as well, and it was worse, got a humming noise out of the charger. Could the battery be toast already? It's only a month old.
Any suggestions? I want to bypass the old regulator and get a strong alternator with internal regulator as well, any suggestions?
Thanks for any help you can give.