In your initial post you say you have left the computer switched on but it is frozen. Is that the state right now? If so you need to remove the left side panel and look at the fan on the motherboard to see if it is spinning. Perhaps this is as simple as the processor cooling fan quitting. The computer would quit to protect your CPU or processor from overheating. As you have a new computer on order perhaps we can assume this machine is a bit older. After checking the fan mentioned above switch off the computer, remove the power cord from the rear of the case and check the cooling fins underneath that fan. Are they full of dust and dirt? If so a can of compressed air will work wonders, be sure to place a finger on the fan to prevent it spinning wildly as you use the compressed air to remove all that crud. (Do this outside if it is particularly dirty, saves a lot of dusting afterwards) Your data is probably safe because the hard drive is probably still good to go. What ever happens you could use this as a wake up call and back up your data. Also if you have not already done it you should create a set of recovery disks - unless Dell provided them at purchase time of course.

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.

just to clarify you do have the computer turned on at that time period daily correct? it will not scan when off or when in sleep mode. It will perform the scan at the next scheduled time. You did not tell us if you are running windows 7 but this is how to find the sleep mode option It can be found by launching "taskschd.msc" from the start menu. You then expand "Task Scheduler Library" to find "Microsoft". From there you will see "Microsoft Antimalware" and then "MP Scheduled Scan". Under the properties select the "Conditions" tab. Under the "Power" section check: "Stop if the computer switches to battery power." and "Wake the computer to run this task" If you are using xp go into the control panel and open up the Task Scheduler. Then select "Advanced" from the pull down menu and then select "View Hidden Tasks". you should see a task named "MP Scheduled Scan". If you select the properties you will see a settings tab. In the settings tab you will see a power management box. You should check: "wake the computer to run the task" and "stop this task if battery mode begins"

Hi, Thanks for the responses ! :-) First, my apologies. I'm very neuro-flatulent today. ;-) I need to make two corrections. She uses Avira not Avast. (She had been using Avast and that was causing some trouble, as other users of those two programs noted.) Avira has been working quite well so far. I think my main issue (and my second correction) is the 'nag factor' associated with Online Armor. (I'm afraid my word "conflict" was a case of me accidentally typing the word that was in the back of my mind thinking about the issues mentioned above between Avast (her former AV) and OA. Sorry for the confusion.... :-( ) Anyway, OA constantly asks me to allow/block things when I'm doing updates, scans, etc. Even when I tick the "trust this program" box I still get asked repeatedly to give my permission for things. It's just the inconvenience of it all. And I assume that 'nag factor' would still be there if I replaced Avira with MSE, so I'd gain nothing. (And as far as third-party firewalls go, I do like OA for her XP computer because it seems to pass leak tests better, in my limited experience. So, until MSE comes out with a FW as part of the software (the two-way kind) -- or until my aunt upgrades to something like Windows 7 that has a better FW -- I guess she may as well stay put with Avira and OA.) Also, my aunt does have Spywarblaster, so she's covered there. :-)