If it's going haywire and a restore did not help. Dell will most likely instruct you do insert the recovery disks and do a restore to factory settings, or restore from the partition with the restore data on it. Is it still under warranty?

I think the computer has been infected if she cannot get McAfee to run or connect with Dell. What safety programs does she have installed besides McAfee and when were they last updated and scans ran?

Yes, it is still under warranty. She has Defender but she didn't realize, it hadn't done a scan since December. She got it to work and it said that she didn't have a problem. Definitely doing the restore point helped it. This brings up a question from me, if I have Defender on my laptop, do I need Malwarebytes? Aren't they the same thing?

I have never found Windows Defender to be useful for anything. Even if it does find a problem, it has never been able to remove it.OTOH, Malwarebytes has not only helped me dozens of times, but I recently installed it on my sister's computer where it found and removed thousands of problems. The choice is up to you. Same with McAfee-use it if you wish, but there are better products available and some of them are free. Nothing named McAfee will ever be on a computer of mine again.

So, I should just get rid of the Defender on mine? She is working on installing AVG 9.0, so hopefully that will catch the problem. Last night I updated my laptop to the 9.0 from 8.5, but the 8.5 still is there. Should I uninstall it or are they connected?

I wouldn't worry about getting rid of Defender...just don't rely on it. 8.5 is still "there"? where is "there"? Are you talking about the Add/Remove programs list? If there is a Help menu for AVG, then there is probably a listing there for "About" or "About AVG" which will tell you which version is actually running. You need to find out if you actually got 9.0 installed or not.

I install malwarebytes on all of my families computers and show them how to use it. In my opinion everyone should have it.
How to download and install Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware application for Windows computers
use the full scan option when you scan and always update it before scanning, scan once a week.

McAfee will not be on any of my computers either it caused me major problems which all disappeared when it was removed fully.
If removing McAfee you must use the McAfee removal tool or it will still be lurking in your pc.

You should never only depend on one program for your computers safety. Using a layered approach is the best protection. Using a good updated antivirus program, a good firewall, malware removers like malwarebytes free and superantispyware free, and installing spywareblaster and WOT are also a good idea.
SpywareBlaster install the free version, once a week open it and hit the update button once it gets the updates hit the one that says enable all protection, the shield will turn green and you are done, it sits in the background protecting you from malicious sites.

WOT is added to your browser to give you indicators of ratings for websites you are trying to visit, if the site is a bad one it will block it with a red circle, when you do a search on google you will have round circles at the end of each line to let you know if it is safe=green, caution=yellow, bad=red.
Web of Trust (WOT)

do you know if the firewall is turned on, on the computers?

If she had McAfee on the pc that has to be fully removed before she can install any version of AVG. The removal tool must be used.
Removal tool (MCPR.exe)

be sure when installing anything to make sure you do not get any added toolbars or other junk that may be pre checked during the install process, uncheck all that are not needed.

Also it is extremely important to keep everything on the pc updated including doing windows updates and all updates for java, adobe, flash etc.
Use the secunia tool to make sure you have your pc updated.
ecunia Online Software Inspector (OSI)

RavenCajun, Great info, thanks so much for posting it. I'd been using Norton anti-virus and Windows Defender on our laptops (4) and netbooks (3) but my newest laptop had Trend installed (a one-yr subscription) so I figured I'd use it. I'll add the Malwarebytes and Spyblaster to all today.

Thanks for all the good advice! My daughter is gone now. I got the Malwarebytes installed and the AVG. The AVG found a trojan, can't remember it's name, but in its name it appeared that she got it from a Limewire download. She put it in quarantine. Things seem to be working fine. I could not get the Spyblaster to install. Told her to keep working on it.

Limeware is one of the worst sites to visit. Full of nasties just waiting to download

agree she needs to get limewire off the pc. In fact if you were to go to one of the support help forums many now will not assist you any further until it is removed, the reason why is because it is such a source of infection so why help clean it when leaving that type of culprit still on the machine to let it get infected yet again. Not to mention the use is usually to illegally gain access to music.
I like to pass along this article and especially the video to people to get an understanding of just what can happen with limewire or other peer to peer apps on the pc.
You Might Be Sharing More Than Music on Limewire
the video speaks volumes.

Here is a link that might be useful: video

I kinda figured you would say that. I used to use it and I quit. I will tell her. Thanks for the link Raven.