After all the good things I had heard about avast! and all the hoops I had to jump through to get it, I didn't expect this kind of stuff. Owbist, I'll do just that: ignore it. Sue, I remember when you posted about that. I guess they all major in SNEAKY. Thanks. Sue

Thanks everyone. A mixed bag of feedback, but mostly stick with XP and keep programs updated and run antispyware and antivirus programs. I do those already. I browse on Firefox and Chrome - never IE. Thanks Pipsy for your perspective. I hear it - and will keep it in mind. But given those that feel caution is sufficient for now, and my real constriction to switch systems this spring, I will probably continue with all cautions. Here are some follow up questions from everybody's posts: 1 - Unplugging external drive when not in use. I have a problem because my Synology NAS is always in use - as is one of my two external hard drives. First, I have lots of video stored on both that the family accesses to transfer to our Tivo's to watch on the television. That needs to be plugged in. I also have my desktop and my daughter's Mac esktop set to back up to the NAS weekly. Owbist - can you (or others) tell me what kind of vulnerability I'm exposing myself too? 2 - Can somebody provide a link and explanation of the ESET online scan? That's one new to me. 3 - I tried NoScript on my firefox and disabled it. Azinoh and the XP security article I mention below, both recommended it. But when I tried it, it was really interfering with a lot of things I was doing. That's been awhile so I dont' remember specifics, but it was just a big pain. Can somebody tell me more about the protection it offers - and are there settings to address how often it popped up and interfered with things? 4 - I do keep flash and java updated. I know many disable java, unfortunately one of the streaming stock programs I run depends on it. 5 - For my work laptop running Windows 7, I had a BSOD from conflicts with Avast. It was a known issue and was recommended to use MSE instead. If MSE isn't that good, should I risk trying Avast again? if there was a conflict in August/September, is it likely fixed since then? anybody know about this? 6 - In another post on this topic, somebody recommended this site/information: http://windowssecrets.com/top-story/securing-xp-pcs-after-microsoft-drops-support/ This site is certainily suggesting to stop with XP - but offers some safety measures if you continue. One was setting up IE so that it can't connect to the internet (but will connect to the homenetwork). "Disable Web browsing: After support ends next April, consider reconfiguring Windows XP to block its access to the Internet. (Remember: You’ll no longer need IE or Windows Update for system updates from Microsoft.) To do so, open IE, go to Tools/Internet Options, and then click on Connections. Click the LAN settings button (see Figure 1) and then check the “Use a proxy server …” box (see Figure 2). Next, enter 127.0.0.1 into the Address box. Finally, check the “Bypass proxy server for local addresses” box." Until this week, I had not encountered proxy servers. I stumbled on it bc. in updating my husband's Windows 7 computer, somehow both chrome and FF got reset to use a proxy server and they weren't connecting to the internet. Using Chrome's troubleshooting info, I was able to disable using proxy server. But now that I've seen the setting, I could set up proxy server for just IE. My question is, will this prevent me from accessing the internet using FF and Chrome (I don't think so but want to be sure)? Is there any reason to do this if I'm the only one in the family with an XP computer and I don't go on IE? Lastly, why do I need to keep IE if I'm not getting Windows updates? is it also for other microsoft updates that I could use (like Word)? Thank you. Lynn.

abreeze has there been any other antivirus on that pc at all prior to your trying to install AVAST? did it come pre loaded with anything? It really sounds like it is having a conflict and that happens most often with remnants of a prior AV on the pc. AVIRA is a good product, it does have a nag screen but there is a way to stop that if you can do a little googling for it. You can always go to the AVAST user forums and tell them your problem they may know exactly what is causing it. http://forum.avast.com/index.php Here is a link that might be useful: avast forum

yes go to LzD forum and post a thread at the area I link to you will need to register there and the team will assist you to run some special scans to help you clean up the pc. Let me know if you need assistance I am there also. Analysis and Malware Removal