I've had Windows Vista (ugh) on my computer for a long time reading this site and many others. I had AVG free antivirus installed on it, and never a problem with this site. Then about a month ago I upgraded to Windows 8.1 on this laptop, and it comes with its own antivirus that is pretty good, so I did not install anything on top. Still no signs of virus or malware messages of any kind. I think the Office Depot person was BS'ing you. They either wanted to sell you McAfee antivirus, or they wanted to get you off their backs fast, or they simply did not know what they were talking about. If you are on Windows 8.1, you do not need additional antivirus at all, and if your Windows is a lower version that does not come with an antivirus, there are absolutely free ones out there that are really good. AVG is one of them that was perfectly fine for me fore a long while. (They try to sell you a paid version when you install, but the free version is the one I am talking about.) I heard McAfee slows down your computer more than others. Based on that, I would not want it even if it came free. There is also this. You said GardenWeb was the first thing you did. Any antivirus, when freshly installed, goes to its servers to update its database of viruses and checks for a new version of itself. That takes some time, and meanwhile if it updates itself, it might turn itself off temporarily, and Windows will immediately tell you that your antivirus is off, and urge you to look into that. Is it possible you got that message while (by chance!) being on this site? In any case, I would not shy away from GW. Oh, and I wholeehartedly second the suggestion to install another browser and not use Internet Explorer. Firefox is very good; I use Google Chrome which is also amazing. Popup blocking is a must, and I also installed AdBlock (available for Chrome AND Firefox) which blocks most ads on most websites. This suggestion is not about viruses, actually, but it is about browsing speed and productivity and convenience.

Roselvr, it is interesting that you are so thorough. I often try to email people privately if I think things have been resolved, and that others don't have the same issue. We did take our computer to Circuit City. The Mother Board was dead. Since it was an E Machine, they said that many people only get about 4 years out of an E Machine. We bought the HP computer, and they copied my pictures onto the new computer. My husband disliked the old machine the most because we could not use a CD for pictures, but had to put in that little thing. According to the Techs at Circuit City, there was no evidence of a Virus or anything else harming the computer. I am happy with the new one since it has a larger screen. We did purchase a printer scanner since that is very important to me. Our biggest problem is that our old Router doesn't like Vista, so even though we paid Circuit City to "fix up" the computer so we would just have to plug it in, we now must buy a new router. My computer here at school has XP, and I hope I won't have troubles going back and forth with information. Even if I bought XP, the school would probably upgrade and there would still be a difference. We had them put in Norton's Security with anti virus and anti spy. We had odd things happening to the old computer probably because it was going out. I do appreciate all of the responses I have received from everyone. I am also glad that roselvr brought to my attention the fact that I haven't returned on some questions. Sometimes when it goes to your own computer, and you read the responses, it seems excessive to write back and thank everyone. I will try to be more careful because I am very appreciative, and even if I disagree with a response, I appreciate the time the person has take to respond. The man said he liked the new Norton's and that he also had trouble with them a few years ago. We'll see. Both of them warned me about free programs like Spyware Blaster. They said that in some of those pages that I would not have read, that I agree to allow them to give or sell some of my information to third parties. Frankly I have'nt a clue what I did when I signed up for it. He said I should be very suspicious when I use free programs - not free trials, but free programs. Sammy

I have installed, used and recommended the following programs. Uninstall all other Anti-virus programs, spyware hunters etc. Download and install the following (all free, by the way) 1. AVG Free Antivirus 2. Lavasoft Adaware (Personal edition-free) 3. Spybot Search and Destroy 4. Spyware Blaster (that name only..no variations) 5. Crap Cleaner 6. A-squared 7. System Security Suite (that name only..no variations) 8. Index.dat suite Use these..you will have no problems. Hope this helps.. txKen

ok AVG is an antivirus program unless you are talking specifically about the AVG program that was for spyware?? you need to clarify please. If AVG antivirus you do not want to get rid of your only antivirus program. I have personally quit using AdAware, it used to be a super good program but in my opinion there are others that have now surpassed it and yes Superantispyware is the main one. I use it regularly, I also keep Spywareblaster SpywareBlaster 4.1 on my system and update it weekly and enable all the protection. I do the superantispyware update and scan weekly also. Plus I have my dedicated antivirus program that is always active. It does not hurt anything to have the programs you mentioned all on your pc, you do not have to delete them but if you want to save room and are not using something then yes you can. You do have a specific antivirus program that is running though right?