If you have AVG anti virus and nothing else you are very exposed to getting infected, as it seems you may well be.

See if you can download and install Malwarebytes, the link is below. Be sure to stay with the blue button for the free version. Once it is installed it will as if you want to update the definitions and run a scan. You do! Be sure to run the full scan not the quick scan.

Let us know how it goes if you are able to download and run Malwarebytes.

Please don't listen to the people who say the anti virus folks create the viruses. Why would they do that then offer a free program?

Your computer can be infected withing hours of being new if no protection is installed.

Here is a link that might be useful: Malwarebytes

It may not be an infection, but rather internal. However, you must protect your system regardless.

I am treading lightly here as I don't intend to be mean or rude. All too often when a single user is having trouble with multiple systems it is not the systems, but the user's creation.

Are you by chance getting a little adventurous with tweaking the systems or removing items and such without the appropriate knowledge? The most frequent occurrence I have seen is users removing O/S folders and files that they think they don't need with too often a negative result.

You are correct about backup.

DA

I downloaded and installed Malwarebytes, ran a full scan and I am good. Is there an option to run the scan automatically? How often should a scan be run?

DA, I am not adventurous at all. I recognize from past experience that I am not knowledgeable enough to be so!

Thanks for everyone's help. This is a valuable site!

It is recommended to run a quick scan once a week!
Did you fix the 3mo. old one? sounds to me like you downloaded a nasty virus like "security tool"? which you can get rid of in safe mode...

malwarebytes free version must be updated prior to running a scan and the scan must be done manually if you want to have it update automatically and be able to set dates and times to run the scans automatically you can purchase a lifetime version which is quite inexpensive. I recommend using a full scan and to always update prior to scanning.
Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware Consumer License the price is $24.95

the free version works fine but you do have to remember to do the update and set the scan up to run about once a week.

If you do not have spywareblaster free on your pc you should put it on also, there is no scanning with it you just have to open it once a week or so and hit the update button then once it has the new updates hit the enable all protection button so the shield turns green and then close it, it sits in the background and protects you from malicious sites.
SpywareBlaster

and adding WOT to your browsers will help you know what sites are safe and not safe, if you see the red warning you want to stay away. It can be added to most browsers including IE and Firefox.
Safe Browsing tool WOT Web of Trust

There have been articles written recently that showed a brand new pc which had not been set up with proper protection, and was put online with a direct online connection like cable or dsl, was completely infected in less than 20 minutes. So who ever told you that you do not need protection is playing a very dangerous game.
You should have a good Antivirus that updates regularly and does scans, a good firewall, good anti malware programs like malwarebytes and superantispyware, and using programs that help you know which sites are safe, those are a minimum, I also suggest highly a router in the mix which has a built in hardware firewall to protect you even more.

good reading for everyone
How Does Spyware, Malware or Crapware Get on My Computer?

Yes, I knew that I had a problem when I couldn't get past my desktop. I contacted HP support and she told me that I had a corrupt OS. She had me do the HP diagnostic thing which said all my components were okay and then she had me do a recovery. I lost a couple month of pictures because of my procrastination! How does one acquire "security tool"? I don't want to go thru that again!

FYI...

Security Tool, otherwise known as SecurityTool, is a rogue anti-spyware program from the same family as System Security. This program is promoted through the use of Trojans and web pop-ups. When this rogue is promoted via a Trojan it will be installed onto your computer without your permission or knowledge. When promoted via web pop-ups, you will be shown a pop-up when browsing the web that states your computer is infected. If you click on the pop-up you will be brought to a page that shows an advertisement that pretends to be a fake online anti-malware scanner. At the end of the advertisement, it will state that there are infections and then prompt you to download and install Security Tool onto your computer.

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/virus-removal/remove-security-tool

The above link gives you removal instructions, it's in your best interest to visit a malware removal forum when getting these Anti Rouge programs.

it is simply one of the many many many rogue products that are out there that try to mimic real AV warnings and scare you into putting it on your pc to supposedly clean the fake problems it says you have. To see just how many of these there are take a look at just one blog that keeps the updated list. The name is usually similar to some real AV product. The link I posted in my previous post tells about some of those and this link is to the lists.

Here is a link that might be useful: rogue list

Thanks! I have added the Spyblaster and WOT. One question, how do I know that I have the WOT actually working. I'm not sure if it actually finished the installation.

It doesn't always take a virus to currupt your operating system. An operating system's files can and do get currupt from a variety of reasons unrelated to a virus.

Microsoft Windows has a built-in utility program that repairs curruption within hard drives. Try opening (My) Computer and right-clicking the drive containing your OS. Select Properties and click the Tools tab. Click the Check Now button on the screen and reboot your system. The Chkdsk program will scan your drive for errors and can prevent your system from getting currupt in the future.

If WOT is working, and if you happen to be using Internet Explorer, there will be a Green, blue, yellow, or red circle up under the main menu ie file, edit, view. Green is good

There are lots of ways for Windows to become "corrupted" that have absolutely nothing to do with a virus or other malware. That's not to say that you didn't a some kind of infection and it's important to use software to protect your system.

You also need to realize that tech support's solution to almost everything is to reinstall the operating system. Level 1 techs don't have the time or possibly the skill to diagnose every problem. So the pat answer is a fresh install. That's why it is so important to make regular backups of critical data. Invest in an external hard drive or use one of the online services like Mozy or Carbonite. If you are going to use an external device don't forget about multiple backups and offsite storage. All the backups in the world won't do you a bit of good if they are sitting next to the computer when the house burns down or a tornado strikes.

Many computer techs will opt for a reinstall of the OS as a matter of economics. A reinstall may take an hour or more while virus removal often takes many hours. At $40-$70+ per hour, virus removal could surpass the value of the computer.

Most viruses do not target user files and it is often easy to recover them even if they have been deleted.

A corrupt OS can often be fixed relatively quickly with the recovery programs found on an installation disc. This is where some computer techs are often too quick to reinstall the OS as opposed to attempting a recovery.

Here's a free software, that will recover your lost files or pictures, works great!

Here is a link that might be useful: Download

nothing will recover files once the computer has been reformatted and the OS re-installed

This is how I recovered my sister's files. I took her hard drive out and made it into a slave drive and then put it in my computer. I copied all of her picture files onto my computer. Re-did her computer and put them back on. Worked great. I also scanned for viruses on her computer and fixed those.

nothing will recover files once the computer has been reformatted and the OS re-installed

That's not entirely true. It's largely a function of how much one wants to pay to recover the data.

the key word there is pay for! I don't know of any of the free programs like recuva that will recover them once the hard drive has been reformatted and the OS reinstalled. My response was to the use of recuva.

If that has not been done then yes there are many ways to possibly get files back including using a linux live cd to recover the files. However since it was stated the OS was re-installed that definitely limits the options.

Nothing in life is free (the "cost" of free software in this case is it not being able to do what you need it to do). Data recovery can be very expensive but the amount of data that can be recovered can be amazing. That's why if such data is extremely confidential, the drive needs to be physically destroyed.