Woah now! I would not say that. Only one anti spyware is barely enough. Most people install 2 or 3 as these do not normally run unless to set them to run. Having more than one of these allows you to use either and if in doubt use both at any given time. There are many free ones to choose from, all with inherent strengths and weaknesses. There are also too many sound alikes which are bad news indeed so tread warily when deciding. Here are a few reputable ones I either do or have used on my computers Spywareblaster Spybot Search & Destroy Superantispyware AdAware 2007 I also had the free AVG anti spyware program installed and was quite happy with that. We'll see how good the reports are on version 8 of their Anti virus with anti spyware built in, hopefully it will be as good as both running separately.

usually what has been said is that you can shut everything but explorer and systray. The reason many times it tells you to install in safe mode is because in safe mode all those "running Processes" are not yet running like they are in normal start up mode so therefore you do not have to do all the shut down of the running stuff. I generally just make sure there are no obvious programs running, I shut my browsers, close all email applications, if it says to shut down specific programs I do that, if it says disconnect from internet I do that. The rest I leave alone. I would guess everyone has their own method.

I am wondering if this could be a run away log file. when you have a problem with hard drive space disappearing, look for a gigantic file. In Windows XP, open Windows Explorer (click Start, All Programs, Accessories, Windows Explorer). Click Search and All Files and Folders. Enter *.* in the file name. Tell it to search My Computer. Select Specify Size and pick At Least in the first box. Enter 1000000 in the second box. Click Search. We are looking for any really large files if you find something get the info on where it is and what it is. Also do this, click start, control panel, administrative tools, event viewer, there you will see 3 options double click on them one at a time and see if you have any warnings if you see anything unusual just double click on that entry and it will open a box with info and what the code is. In the security especially look closely for signs of any one other than you logging into your system. While in control panel open user accounts and look to see if you see any new or additional user accounts listed in there. do you have a firewall on your pc? if not at the very least get the windows one turned on but I would advise going and getting one of the free ones, and setting it up, just in case someone has gained access to your system. work with that program xinorbis it will tell you exactly where the big files are that is what it is for so you can see exactly what is taking up that space. It will make pie charts and lists and tell you a lot of info. Another thing to check is how much space are you allowing system restore to use? you can adjust the amount you let it have. Start, control panel, double click system click the system restore tab then settings if the slider is all the way on max move it down a bit hit apply ok, that might show you have some space back check and see. And just in case you have not done this already on your browsers clear all the cache, temp internet files, cookies, history, offline content, every thing. If you need directions just tell us. Go to your trash bin and make sure it is completely empty. do you have any type of peer to peer sharing programs on your pc? like sharing music of videos? If so lock them down and/ or get rid of them. Have you installed itunes by any chance and loaded music? sometimes it can duplicate files. you can download a free program called belarc advisor which will scan your pc and give you a list of everything that is on your pc, but it also has a function that will tell you if your hard drive is healthy or if may be failing, that would be something worth checking. I am just wracking my brain for things that could be causing this. But I tell ya I would be thinking of trying a system restore point prior to that date that you said it pointed to and see what happens before you no longer have the option to go back there. As I said if it does not help you can just turn right back around and tell it to undo it. To be doubly sure have it create a restore point right before you do the go back. Do that before you make any changes to your system restore like moving the slider to use less space, would not want to lose the restore point you needed. I will keep thinking on it as I am sure others are too.

Chandler, it is essential to run the dedicated removal tool from Norton for the version of Norton that was on the pc, what is happening is that there are essentially 2 antivirus programs on the pc that is a no no they can cause serious conflicts and problems. Anyone that got a pc that had any type of trial or free antivirus program on it then decides to go with another brand must search for the specific removal tool for that AV and use it or use a tool like REVO uninstaller to search for it and remove all aspects of it. Antivirus Product Removal Tools Corrine posted many of them on her blog Revo Uninstaller 1.90 Revo Uninstaller you want to be sure you get the freeware version where ever you get it from. my question to leslie is did you follow those methods when you removed your Norton from your pc? if not remnants could now be coming back to haunt you. Always run the tool they provide to uninstall it.