I bought a Dell for my mother (Vista 32 bit) and she has had no problems whatsoever.

A brand spanking new Vista or XP equipped machine should work fine out of the box by now. Any problems that can happen will probably be due to things that you add/install afterwards. Say, hardware or software add ons. Make a list of programs and hardware attached to the desktop (think: cameras, external drives, flash drives, etc). Microsoft used to have a program in their website that would scan XP PCs and list compatibility issues; you may want to check if it is still around.

Other things to think about....

Windows 7, a new version to replace Vista, is coming up soon, around the end of this year provided the shipping date does not get moved. So, keep that in mind.

Some versions of Windows Vista for laptops are the 64-bit versions of Windows so keep that in mind too because programs written for 32-bit may not run on 64-bit (you can email the software maker and they should be able to tell you).

For example, and embarrasingly enough for Microsoft, Windows Office 2007 is not offered in 64-bit form but will run fine in either XP or Vista, and in either 32 or 64 bit configurations. Some Adobe products do not work on 64-bit.

I've got two machines running Vista: a 15-month old Dell laptop, and a brand new Sony Vaio all-in-one. I've had no problems with either one. Yes, Vista is, perhaps, too fancy for its own good, which means that you need a lot of RAM, but 3 GB is more than enough. Some people have undoubtedly had problems with Vista, but I also discount a lot of it as more of the same Microsoft-bashing one always hears. I don't think it's an issue for most people, or a reason you should choose a machine for its operating system. If I were you, I'd get a good laptop (like the Toshiba you're looking at) or a comparable model from a manufacturer who also has decent tech support and quit worrying about Vista. As for Norton 360, if you don't like it, you can do a 2 minute uninstall, like I did, and use something else, like McAfee (which you can usually find with a good rebate at places like Buy.com or Fry's.)

As for the Norton thing,its only a free 90 day promotion then you pay. If I were you, I would completely uninstall it on arrival. Make sure after you uninstall it completely. Then download Avast free. Its a really good anti virus. You will have to register it when activated and I believe every year. Small price to pay for a good free AV.
As for the firewall, activate the Vista firewall. Its a good two way firewall. You should be good to go.

Thank you all so much for your very helpful suggestions and comments.

At this time, I don't plan to add software to the laptop; I want to keep it simple. The only software I might add is MS Office Enterprise (a copy of which was given to everyone at work to put on their home computers).

I want to do the following activities on the laptop:
-- Surf the net (I enjoy researching facts)
-- Visit forums (like this one)
-- Check email
-- Update the blogs (recipes and cycling)
-- Learn and write CSS for the blogs
-- Games that come on the laptop -- but not gaming, per se.
-- Download photos from a memory card (using card slot in laptop, or USB card reader) for viewing/sharing (and temporary storage while on vacation).

I got a little money for Christmas that would enable me to spend a little over our own budget, but I could put that towards an accessory instead (e.g. carrying case) if I don't need to spend it on upgrades for the laptop. My budget is about $700, so I could go up to $900 or save that $200 for something else.

Toshiba Satellite,

Could you give us the model # of the Toshiba you were looking at L300, A300, 0r L350.

zep: I'll check the Best Buy ads this morning and let you know. It's the one with the small round speakers in the top left/right corners. Of the model numbers you provided, only the L350 rings a bell. We didn't particularly settle on that one model, but it was in the price range (around $700) and had the size and features I'm looking for, and the sales guy recommended Toshiba after he asked Geek Squad guys about reliable models. My husband (who reads a lot of reviews) said he's read very good things about Toshiba laptops.

I agree. Toshibas are very reliable. They and IBM (pre-Lenovo) are what I have been using exclusively for the last 10-15 years. There are also nice Acer laptops out there but there service program is not near as nice as Toshiba. Each reasonably large city has an authorized Toshiba repair center where the Acers have to be sent in. Just do a google search for eg: "toshiba satellite L350 reviews". You should be able to find something on the model you want

Preinstalled software bundles beware, no whats on the pc the first day you bring it home...

"After quarter of a century of the IBM PC, we still don't understand why so many companies feel obliged to create swathes of below-par software to install on the computers they sell. Notebook makers are the worst, and Sony the king of them all: the first job for any new Vaio owner is to strip out the layers of desktop 'enhancements', media 'managers' and system 'control software' that serve only to get in the way of doing things the way you know how to do them, interfere with other software packages and suck up such enormous amounts of resources on start-up that two weeks after you've bought one, you're still not sure whether it's broken or not".

genes: Thanks for that info, very helpful. I like to research products prior to purchase (OK, I'm a little compulsive about it) so I'll be sure to compare reviews.

zep: I've wondered about that in our current PC (Dell XPS purchased about 3 years ago), and wondered if we could remove it. One software that did come on it that I LOVE is the MS Picture It! 10 tool, a very nice photo editing tool that also allows you to create products from photos. Otherwise, I haven't found another one that I want to keep, but I'm afraid of getting rid of them for fear that they are needed by others. QUESTION: Is there a way of searching for and finding these packages and knowing what to remove and keep?

Please download hijackthis to your desk top see link.

(Uninstall list) hijackthis instruction

Double click the hijackthis Icon on the Desktop, Scroll down to ђOpen the Misc Tools section" Click it at the bottom under System tools click "Open Uninstall Manager" over to the right click "Save List" Save it to your Desktop so you may find it, copy and paste it in your next reply..

Please do not use hijackthis program for anything unless under instruction, we will at finish uninstall the program.

There is also another tool you can use called Decrapifier, lets do it this way and I will be able two see all the programs in the ADD/REMOVE List.

Here is a link that might be useful: HijackThis

zep: Thanks -- I will try that later today or this week when I have a bit more time.

Zep, I finally had some time this morning... so I downloaded HijackThis and followed your instructions to the letter.

Here's the uninstall list. Now, my husband and I took a look at it and he said "if it's just installed and not running then it's not a problem". Is that true?

2007 Microsoft Office Suite Service Pack 1 (SP1)
2007 Microsoft Office Suite Service Pack 1 (SP1)
2007 Microsoft Office Suite Service Pack 1 (SP1)
2007 Microsoft Office Suite Service Pack 1 (SP1)
2007 Microsoft Office Suite Service Pack 1 (SP1)
2007 Microsoft Office Suite Service Pack 1 (SP1)
2007 Microsoft Office Suite Service Pack 1 (SP1)
2007 Microsoft Office Suite Service Pack 1 (SP1)
2007 Microsoft Office Suite Service Pack 1 (SP1)
2007 Microsoft Office Suite Service Pack 1 (SP1)
2007 Microsoft Office Suite Service Pack 1 (SP1)
2007 Microsoft Office Suite Service Pack 1 (SP1)
2007 Microsoft Office Suite Service Pack 1 (SP1)
2007 Microsoft Office Suite Service Pack 1 (SP1)
2007 Microsoft Office Suite Service Pack 1 (SP1)
2007 Microsoft Office Suite Service Pack 1 (SP1)
2007 Microsoft Office Suite Service Pack 1 (SP1)
Ad-Aware
Adobe Bridge 1.0
Adobe Common File Installer
Adobe Flash Player ActiveX
Adobe Flash Player Plugin
Adobe Help Center 1.0
Adobe Photoshop CS2
Adobe Reader 8.1.3
Adobe Stock Photos 1.0
AnswerWorks 4.0 Runtime - English
AOLIcon
Apple Mobile Device Support
Apple Software Update
avast! Antivirus
Broadcom Advanced Control Suite
Canon IJ Network Scan Utility
Canon IJ Network Tool
Canon MP Navigator EX 1.1
Canon MX850 series
Canon MX850 series User Registration
Canon My Printer
Canon Utilities Easy-PhotoPrint EX
Canon Utilities Solution Menu
Cardiris
Cisco Systems VPN Client 4.8.02.0010
Creative MediaSource
Dell Digital Jukebox Driver
Dell Driver Reset Tool
Dell Media Experience
Dell Support Center (Support Software)
DellSupport
DMX Update
FileZilla (remove only)
Free Solitaire 3D 1.7
Google Desktop
Google Earth
Google Toolbar for Internet Explorer
Google Toolbar for Internet Explorer
HijackThis 2.0.2
Hotfix for Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 (KB953595)
Hotfix for Windows Internet Explorer 7 (KB947864)
Hotfix for Windows Media Format 11 SDK (KB929399)
Hotfix for Windows Media Player 11 (KB939683)
Hotfix for Windows XP (KB942288-v3)
Hotfix for Windows XP (KB952287)
ImgBurn (Remove Only)
Intel Matrix Storage Manager
Intel(R) 537EP V9x DF PCI Modem
Internet Explorer Default Page
iPod for Windows 2006-03-23
IrfanView (remove only)
iTunes
J2SE Runtime Environment 5.0 Update 10
J2SE Runtime Environment 5.0 Update 11
J2SE Runtime Environment 5.0 Update 6
J2SE Runtime Environment 5.0 Update 9
Java 2 Runtime Environment, SE v1.4.2_03
Java(TM) 6 Update 11
Java(TM) 6 Update 3
Java(TM) 6 Update 7
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment 6 Update 1
Learn2 Player (Uninstall Only)
Macromedia Flash Player 8
MailWasher Free
Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1
Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1
Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1 Hotfix (KB928366)
Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 Service Pack 2
Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 Service Pack 2
Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 SP1
Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 SP1
Microsoft Compression Client Pack 1.0 for Windows XP
Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia Standard 2005
Microsoft Excel 97
Microsoft Internationalized Domain Names Mitigation APIs
Microsoft Money 2005
Microsoft National Language Support Downlevel APIs
Microsoft Office Access MUI (English) 2007
Microsoft Office Access Setup Metadata MUI (English) 2007
Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007
Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007
Microsoft Office Excel MUI (English) 2007
Microsoft Office Groove MUI (English) 2007
Microsoft Office Groove Setup Metadata MUI (English) 2007
Microsoft Office InfoPath MUI (English) 2007
Microsoft Office OneNote MUI (English) 2007
Microsoft Office Outlook MUI (English) 2007
Microsoft Office PowerPoint MUI (English) 2007
Microsoft Office Proof (English) 2007
Microsoft Office Proof (French) 2007
Microsoft Office Proof (Spanish) 2007
Microsoft Office Proofing (English) 2007
Microsoft Office Publisher MUI (English) 2007
Microsoft Office Shared MUI (English) 2007
Microsoft Office Shared Setup Metadata MUI (English) 2007
Microsoft Office Word MUI (English) 2007
Microsoft Picture It! Premium 10
Microsoft Plus! Digital Media Edition Installer
Microsoft Plus! Photo Story 2 LE
Microsoft Publisher 97
Microsoft Silverlight
Microsoft Streets and Trips 2005
Microsoft User-Mode Driver Framework Feature Pack 1.0
Microsoft Works
Microsoft Works 2005 Setup Launcher
Microsoft Works Suite Add-in for Microsoft Word
Modem Event Monitor
Modem Helper
Modem On Hold
Mozilla Firefox (3.0.5)
MSXML 4.0 SP2 (KB925672)
MSXML 4.0 SP2 (KB927978)
MSXML 4.0 SP2 (KB936181)
MSXML 4.0 SP2 (KB954430)
My Way Search Assistant
NVIDIA Drivers
OpenOffice.org Installer 1.0
Paint Shop Pro 7
Photo Click
Photodex Presenter
Picasa 3
PIXMA Extended Survey Program
PowerDVD 5.5
Presto! PageManager 7.15.20
ProShow Gold
Qualxserve Service Agreement
Quicken 2007
QuickTime
RealPlayer Basic
ScanSoft OmniPage SE 4
Security Update for 2007 Microsoft Office System (KB951550)
Security Update for 2007 Microsoft Office System (KB951944)
Security Update for 2007 Microsoft Office System (KB958439)
Security Update for CAPICOM (KB931906)
Security Update for CAPICOM (KB931906)
Security Update for Microsoft Office Excel 2007 (KB958437)
Security Update for Microsoft Office OneNote 2007 (KB950130)
Security Update for Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007 (KB951338)
Security Update for Microsoft Office Publisher 2007 (KB950114)
Security Update for Microsoft Office system 2007 (KB954326)
Security Update for Microsoft Office system 2007 (KB956828)
Security Update for Microsoft Office Word 2007 (KB956358)
Security Update for Step By Step Interactive Training (KB898458)
Security Update for Step By Step Interactive Training (KB923723)
Security Update for Windows Internet Explorer 7 (KB928090)
Security Update for Windows Internet Explorer 7 (KB931768)
Security Update for Windows Internet Explorer 7 (KB933566)
Security Update for Windows Internet Explorer 7 (KB937143)
Security Update for Windows Internet Explorer 7 (KB938127)
Security Update for Windows Internet Explorer 7 (KB939653)
Security Update for Windows Internet Explorer 7 (KB942615)
Security Update for Windows Internet Explorer 7 (KB944533)
Security Update for Windows Internet Explorer 7 (KB950759)
Security Update for Windows Internet Explorer 7 (KB953838)
Security Update for Windows Internet Explorer 7 (KB956390)
Security Update for Windows Internet Explorer 7 (KB958215)
Security Update for Windows Internet Explorer 7 (KB960714)
Security Update for Windows Media Player (KB952069)
Security Update for Windows Media Player 10 (KB911565)
Security Update for Windows Media Player 10 (KB917734)
Security Update for Windows Media Player 11 (KB936782)
Security Update for Windows Media Player 11 (KB954154)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB938464)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB941569)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB946648)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB950760)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB950762)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB950974)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB951066)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB951376)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB951376-v2)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB951698)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB951748)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB952954)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB953839)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB954211)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB954459)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB954600)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB955069)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB956391)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB956802)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB956803)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB956841)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB957095)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB957097)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB958644)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB958687)
Shockwave
Shutterfly Plugin
Sonic Audio module
Sonic DLA
Sonic MyDVD LE
Sonic RecordNow Copy
Sonic RecordNow Data
Sonic Update Manager
Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS
Spelling Dictionaries Support For Adobe Reader 8
Spybot - Search & Destroy
TrueSwitch Wizard Verizon
TurboTax ItsDeductible 2005
TurboTax ItsDeductible 2006
TurboTax Premier 2007
TurboTax Premier Investments 2006
Update for Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 (KB952142)
Update for Microsoft Office Publisher 2007 Help (KB957249)
Update for Microsoft Office Word 2007 Help (KB957252)
Update for Office 2007 (KB946691)
Update for Outlook 2007 Junk Email Filter (kb959141)
Update for Windows XP (KB951072-v2)
Update for Windows XP (KB951978)
Update for Windows XP (KB955839)
VC 9.0 Runtime
Verizon Broadband Toolbar (IE only)
Verizon Broadband Toolbar Firefox only
Verizon Online Help and Support
Verizon Servicepoint 1.5.22
Viewpoint Media Player
WD Diagnostics
WebCyberCoach 3.2 Dell
WexTech AnswerWorks
Windows Genuine Advantage v1.3.0254.0
Windows Media Format 11 runtime
Windows Media Format 11 runtime
Windows Media Player 10
Windows Media Player 11
Windows Media Player 11
Windows XP Service Pack 3
WinZip
X-Win32 7.1
ZoneAlarm
ZoneAlarm Spy Blocker

Zep, I finally had some time this morning... so I downloaded HijackThis and followed your instructions to the letter.

Here's the uninstall list. Now, my husband and I took a look at it and he said "if it's just installed and not running then it's not a problem". Is that true?

2007 Microsoft Office Suite Service Pack 1 (SP1)
2007 Microsoft Office Suite Service Pack 1 (SP1)
2007 Microsoft Office Suite Service Pack 1 (SP1)
2007 Microsoft Office Suite Service Pack 1 (SP1)
2007 Microsoft Office Suite Service Pack 1 (SP1)
2007 Microsoft Office Suite Service Pack 1 (SP1)
2007 Microsoft Office Suite Service Pack 1 (SP1)
2007 Microsoft Office Suite Service Pack 1 (SP1)
2007 Microsoft Office Suite Service Pack 1 (SP1)
2007 Microsoft Office Suite Service Pack 1 (SP1)
2007 Microsoft Office Suite Service Pack 1 (SP1)
2007 Microsoft Office Suite Service Pack 1 (SP1)
2007 Microsoft Office Suite Service Pack 1 (SP1)
2007 Microsoft Office Suite Service Pack 1 (SP1)
2007 Microsoft Office Suite Service Pack 1 (SP1)
2007 Microsoft Office Suite Service Pack 1 (SP1)
2007 Microsoft Office Suite Service Pack 1 (SP1)
Ad-Aware
Adobe Bridge 1.0
Adobe Common File Installer
Adobe Flash Player ActiveX
Adobe Flash Player Plugin
Adobe Help Center 1.0
Adobe Photoshop CS2
Adobe Reader 8.1.3
Adobe Stock Photos 1.0
AnswerWorks 4.0 Runtime - English
AOLIcon
Apple Mobile Device Support
Apple Software Update
avast! Antivirus
Broadcom Advanced Control Suite
Canon IJ Network Scan Utility
Canon IJ Network Tool
Canon MP Navigator EX 1.1
Canon MX850 series
Canon MX850 series User Registration
Canon My Printer
Canon Utilities Easy-PhotoPrint EX
Canon Utilities Solution Menu
Cardiris
Cisco Systems VPN Client 4.8.02.0010
Creative MediaSource
Dell Digital Jukebox Driver
Dell Driver Reset Tool
Dell Media Experience
Dell Support Center (Support Software)
DellSupport
DMX Update
FileZilla (remove only)
Free Solitaire 3D 1.7
Google Desktop
Google Earth
Google Toolbar for Internet Explorer
Google Toolbar for Internet Explorer
HijackThis 2.0.2
Hotfix for Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 (KB953595)
Hotfix for Windows Internet Explorer 7 (KB947864)
Hotfix for Windows Media Format 11 SDK (KB929399)
Hotfix for Windows Media Player 11 (KB939683)
Hotfix for Windows XP (KB942288-v3)
Hotfix for Windows XP (KB952287)
ImgBurn (Remove Only)
Intel Matrix Storage Manager
Intel(R) 537EP V9x DF PCI Modem
Internet Explorer Default Page
iPod for Windows 2006-03-23
IrfanView (remove only)
iTunes
J2SE Runtime Environment 5.0 Update 10
J2SE Runtime Environment 5.0 Update 11
J2SE Runtime Environment 5.0 Update 6
J2SE Runtime Environment 5.0 Update 9
Java 2 Runtime Environment, SE v1.4.2_03
Java(TM) 6 Update 11
Java(TM) 6 Update 3
Java(TM) 6 Update 7
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment 6 Update 1
Learn2 Player (Uninstall Only)
Macromedia Flash Player 8
MailWasher Free
Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1
Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1
Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1 Hotfix (KB928366)
Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 Service Pack 2
Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 Service Pack 2
Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 SP1
Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 SP1
Microsoft Compression Client Pack 1.0 for Windows XP
Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia Standard 2005
Microsoft Excel 97
Microsoft Internationalized Domain Names Mitigation APIs
Microsoft Money 2005
Microsoft National Language Support Downlevel APIs
Microsoft Office Access MUI (English) 2007
Microsoft Office Access Setup Metadata MUI (English) 2007
Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007
Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007
Microsoft Office Excel MUI (English) 2007
Microsoft Office Groove MUI (English) 2007
Microsoft Office Groove Setup Metadata MUI (English) 2007
Microsoft Office InfoPath MUI (English) 2007
Microsoft Office OneNote MUI (English) 2007
Microsoft Office Outlook MUI (English) 2007
Microsoft Office PowerPoint MUI (English) 2007
Microsoft Office Proof (English) 2007
Microsoft Office Proof (French) 2007
Microsoft Office Proof (Spanish) 2007
Microsoft Office Proofing (English) 2007
Microsoft Office Publisher MUI (English) 2007
Microsoft Office Shared MUI (English) 2007
Microsoft Office Shared Setup Metadata MUI (English) 2007
Microsoft Office Word MUI (English) 2007
Microsoft Picture It! Premium 10
Microsoft Plus! Digital Media Edition Installer
Microsoft Plus! Photo Story 2 LE
Microsoft Publisher 97
Microsoft Silverlight
Microsoft Streets and Trips 2005
Microsoft User-Mode Driver Framework Feature Pack 1.0
Microsoft Works
Microsoft Works 2005 Setup Launcher
Microsoft Works Suite Add-in for Microsoft Word
Modem Event Monitor
Modem Helper
Modem On Hold
Mozilla Firefox (3.0.5)
MSXML 4.0 SP2 (KB925672)
MSXML 4.0 SP2 (KB927978)
MSXML 4.0 SP2 (KB936181)
MSXML 4.0 SP2 (KB954430)
My Way Search Assistant
NVIDIA Drivers
OpenOffice.org Installer 1.0
Paint Shop Pro 7
Photo Click
Photodex Presenter
Picasa 3
PIXMA Extended Survey Program
PowerDVD 5.5
Presto! PageManager 7.15.20
ProShow Gold
Qualxserve Service Agreement
Quicken 2007
QuickTime
RealPlayer Basic
ScanSoft OmniPage SE 4
Security Update for 2007 Microsoft Office System (KB951550)
Security Update for 2007 Microsoft Office System (KB951944)
Security Update for 2007 Microsoft Office System (KB958439)
Security Update for CAPICOM (KB931906)
Security Update for CAPICOM (KB931906)
Security Update for Microsoft Office Excel 2007 (KB958437)
Security Update for Microsoft Office OneNote 2007 (KB950130)
Security Update for Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007 (KB951338)
Security Update for Microsoft Office Publisher 2007 (KB950114)
Security Update for Microsoft Office system 2007 (KB954326)
Security Update for Microsoft Office system 2007 (KB956828)
Security Update for Microsoft Office Word 2007 (KB956358)
Security Update for Step By Step Interactive Training (KB898458)
Security Update for Step By Step Interactive Training (KB923723)
Security Update for Windows Internet Explorer 7 (KB928090)
Security Update for Windows Internet Explorer 7 (KB931768)
Security Update for Windows Internet Explorer 7 (KB933566)
Security Update for Windows Internet Explorer 7 (KB937143)
Security Update for Windows Internet Explorer 7 (KB938127)
Security Update for Windows Internet Explorer 7 (KB939653)
Security Update for Windows Internet Explorer 7 (KB942615)
Security Update for Windows Internet Explorer 7 (KB944533)
Security Update for Windows Internet Explorer 7 (KB950759)
Security Update for Windows Internet Explorer 7 (KB953838)
Security Update for Windows Internet Explorer 7 (KB956390)
Security Update for Windows Internet Explorer 7 (KB958215)
Security Update for Windows Internet Explorer 7 (KB960714)
Security Update for Windows Media Player (KB952069)
Security Update for Windows Media Player 10 (KB911565)
Security Update for Windows Media Player 10 (KB917734)
Security Update for Windows Media Player 11 (KB936782)
Security Update for Windows Media Player 11 (KB954154)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB938464)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB941569)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB946648)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB950760)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB950762)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB950974)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB951066)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB951376)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB951376-v2)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB951698)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB951748)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB952954)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB953839)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB954211)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB954459)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB954600)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB955069)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB956391)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB956802)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB956803)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB956841)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB957095)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB957097)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB958644)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB958687)
Shockwave
Shutterfly Plugin
Sonic Audio module
Sonic DLA
Sonic MyDVD LE
Sonic RecordNow Copy
Sonic RecordNow Data
Sonic Update Manager
Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS
Spelling Dictionaries Support For Adobe Reader 8
Spybot - Search & Destroy
TrueSwitch Wizard Verizon
TurboTax ItsDeductible 2005
TurboTax ItsDeductible 2006
TurboTax Premier 2007
TurboTax Premier Investments 2006
Update for Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 (KB952142)
Update for Microsoft Office Publisher 2007 Help (KB957249)
Update for Microsoft Office Word 2007 Help (KB957252)
Update for Office 2007 (KB946691)
Update for Outlook 2007 Junk Email Filter (kb959141)
Update for Windows XP (KB951072-v2)
Update for Windows XP (KB951978)
Update for Windows XP (KB955839)
VC 9.0 Runtime
Verizon Broadband Toolbar (IE only)
Verizon Broadband Toolbar Firefox only
Verizon Online Help and Support
Verizon Servicepoint 1.5.22
Viewpoint Media Player
WD Diagnostics
WebCyberCoach 3.2 Dell
WexTech AnswerWorks
Windows Genuine Advantage v1.3.0254.0
Windows Media Format 11 runtime
Windows Media Format 11 runtime
Windows Media Player 10
Windows Media Player 11
Windows Media Player 11
Windows XP Service Pack 3
WinZip
X-Win32 7.1
ZoneAlarm
ZoneAlarm Spy Blocker

Uninstall these old Java can be an infection risk:
J2SE Runtime Environment 5.0 Update 10
J2SE Runtime Environment 5.0 Update 11
J2SE Runtime Environment 5.0 Update 6
J2SE Runtime Environment 5.0 Update 9
Java 2 Runtime Environment, SE v1.4.2_03
java(TM) 6 Update 3
Java(TM) 6 Update 7
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment 6 Update 1

(Java(TM) 6 Update 11) KEEP THIS ONE this is the current version.

RealPlayer Basic, If you are not using Real Player I would uninstall it, real player plays real media files. This can be an intrusive program..

Are you using sonic? ItÂs a dvd recording burning program..

Viewpoint Media PlayerÂI would uninstall this.

Google Toolbar for Internet Explorer
Google Toolbar for Internet Explorer
If you use Google toolbar leave it, otherwise uninstall it, I bet a Google toolbar update is running on the pc.

My Way Search Assistant remove.

Do you use Turbo tax, uninstall it if you donÂt use it.

ThatÂs all I see..

Thanks so much, zep. I removed the ones you recommended except for Google toolbar (last used just last week) and a few that we do use.

I'll see if there are others that we can remove.

Do I remove hijackthis now? You said we'd do that at the end.

Yes there is no need for that program to be on the pc, I'd hate to have it misused so yes uninstall it.