[quote name='stevie' timestamp='1336761162' post='1650777']
I've used other free antivirus software but the Microsoft one is excellent, although it occasionally hogs the system when you open My Documents. Like Ped, I've experienced AVG missing viruses.[/quote]
Ped?! AVG seems to have problems detecting the original infecting file so I had to use [url="http://free.antivirus.com/hijackthis/"]hijack this[/url] to manually identify the file based on other criteria and remove it. Typically it's a file that looks out of place in the system32 or system folder.
[quote name='stevie' timestamp='1336761162' post='1650777']
I've also tried a number of firewalls including Zonealarm, which in one of its incarnations forced me to reinstall the operating system!. The best one, in my opinion, because it's very easy to use, has virtually no overhead, and is very reliable, is the Ashampoo firewall. Nobody has ever heard of it but it's fantastic. Trust me. Vorsprung and all that. Just my two penn'orth. (I earn a living on my PC).
[/quote]
Thanks for that, heard about it but never tried it.
[url="http://www.ashampoo.com/en/usd/pin/0050/Security_Software/Ashampoo-FireWall-FREE"]http://www.ashampoo....o-FireWall-FREE[/url]