I've noticed that some people tend to have recurring problems - they run out of gas, they overspend on their credit cards, they have problems with kids, they have traffic accidents or ticket problems, etc, . It's not that some people have all of these problems, but rather some people seem to be prone to having recurring problems of one sort or another. This seems to be true of malware infections too. While there can be an element of good/bad luck involved, there's also (in my view) an issue of recognizing when a particular practice leads to an unwanted consequence, then a rational thing to do is to change your actions. Maybe I'm lucky, but my security software and reasonable but not OCD practices avoid malware problems entirely. I don't read about it, follow it, or lose sleep or worry about it. I'm sure future incidents will occur, but prevention is easy and recovery is also easy. Desktop linux use is proposed by enthusiasts but seems to be dead on arrival. The percentage usage is tiny and not growing- if you rounded off, it rounds to zero. Even in enterprise settings where linux expertise is available from IT departments, there seems to be little interest in it.

You shouldn't be getting ANY popups with the following configurations in Firefox: (1a) Under Tools, Options, Web features: (1b) Block Pop Ups (check, ie click it so it has a tick) (1c) Enable Java (uncheck, ie click it to *remove* the tick) (1d) Enable Java Script (uncheck as above). (1e) Quit your browser (don't just close the window) and restart it. Still getting popups? If so: (2a) Under Tools, Options, Privacy: (2b) Cache (click on CLEAR button). (2c) Quit Firefox then restart. Still getting popups? If so, the big gun left is to clear all info stored in your browser, as it means that the annoying ads have been saved on your computer and are automatically activated when you visit a certain webpage. Problem is that if you rely on your browser to store passwords for you, they will all be cleared. (I have the cache set to be cleared every time the browser is closed, and so have to log on to every site anew, but for me it's worth it.) (3a) Under Tools, Options, Privacy: (3b) At the bottom right of the dropdown box, click the CLEAR button beside 'Clear all information stored while browsing'. (3c) Confirm that this is what you want to do (by clicking on the 'Clear all information' button that appears'). (3d) Quit Firefox and reopen it. Now, the popups MUST be gone. (And I hope you can make sense of this paragraph-less message!)

Thanks, I went from commercial to AVG when I retired and turned in my company computer, in 2003. I was disappointed by something in AVG about 7 years ago and went to Avira Free. Yes, I have strange problems... the XP machine that brought me here this time was even having problems sending email from Thunderbird...it downloaded okay but time out on send. In parallel tonight I switched back to DSL from my trial of Comcast Cable (don't see any real improvement due to speed) and I tried Thunderbird over DSL and the message went right out. I will Call Comcast tonight and drop my cable access. I'm too much in bed with the DSL email service to want to change my address. I may migrate of a few months and may drop the telephone all together. Changes in my life of late makes keeping the wireline phone doubtful. I also have an email account with att.com mail (now Yahoo) and that does not works with any access, like gmail etc.

I agree with Snidely, it is easier for a novice user to use a MAC than a window PC. MAC OS system and interfaces implemented/used by its applications are a lot more elegant, efficient and user friendly. MAC's hardware and software are less "open" than Window's, therefore, it has a lot less virus introduced by applications and less compatibility issues between OS and Applications. I like the 'almost' seamless integration among all the apple products/devices. In spite of having an IT division to support, we frequently have PC issues at work. I purchased my first MAC for home use in the summer of 2014, so far I have encountered zero problem. "At home with our computer nerd dad we were free to experiment on our own and get really comfortable with computers from an early age". YOU may not remember how much your parents had to pay to clean up your computers. While our children grew up we also highly encouraged them to have "hands on" experience. We are computer nerd parents working in Engineering, and with Computer Science degree, yet we still paid dearly to have 'professional' to clean up our children's virus infested Window PCs many times. For MAC new users, Apple's one year support program is a great deal. During one year, the new user could use it as many times as possible by attending trainings, group learning sessions and phone in questions to fully learn the system. The support is many times better than the technical support provided by any PC sellers.