since you said you don't know anything about it then I would run a belarc to get all the info about the pc and a SIW, plus you will want to run a secunia scan to see what needs updating on it and do those asap. Belarc Advisor SIW those are good to print so that you have all the info handy should you need it. Secunia Online Software Inspector (OSI) I forgot to mention adding spywareblaster to your security list, just install, update then once a week open it hit update then click the enable all protection so the shield turns green. SpywareBlaster be sure you get the free version when you go to the download link just continue with the one you started with do not move to the trial of the pay version.

OK we need to step back a little. You did not mention your operating system nor the program you use to create your back up image. If you have Vista or Windows 7 it comes with a back up utility. XP does not so you need a third party program such as Acronis True Image or similar. From what I can see you external drive came with no back up program installed on it. Using your HP recovery disks will return the computer to the state it was when you first opened the box and set your machine up. All data will be lost unless it is backed up. All bloatware will be installed again, exactly as it left the factory. Restoring an image created in Vista, Win7 or third party software however returns the computer to the exact state it was in when you created that particular image. Some (perhaps all) programs offer incremental backups, in other words they add stuff onto the previous back up. Personally I never allow that, I always create a new image then delete the older one. There is no specific reason for that, it is just one of my many quirks.

I found the following very interesting article written by 'imdoody' here:- It really does not matter what antivirus is used, but have it. Even more importantly, be smart when using the web and internet. Here are some very good steps that will prevent almost all Maleware/viruses (The crazy thing is, it's not a program; Its You, the end user!) 1. Don't look at Adult Material (aka Pr0n) on the internet. 2. Don't download kazaa, bear share, limewire, etc, etc.... buy your music for real. You end up spending more money paying "geekpatrol" (trying not to use real names) to fix all the viruses you received because your 13 yr old daughter was trying to download the latest Avril Lavreign song on limewire. 3. Stay away from anything free (i.e. "try this free for 2 weeks, cancel anytime, free acie berry diet pills... the list goes on..." some free stuff is good, like MS security essentials....) 4. Don't click on untrusted "Sponsored adds" or download email attachments from untrusted senders. (UPS, facebook, or ebay will not send an attachment to update your password, or track a package.... EVER!) 5. Facebook is great for catching up with old friends, or staying in touch with new ones. But stay away from all the ads and BS games. 6. Don't click on pop ups or windows that say things like "1200 viruses found click here to clean!" (Wait, how did they find 1200 viruses and when did I start a scan? OH I don't remember installing AntiVirus 2010!!!! ("alt+F4" is your friend it will close fake pop ups like these.) you may loose what you are looking at but it is worth it. 7. DO google search companies that you are unsure about followed by "Consumer reports" or "BBB" (Better Business Bureau) 8. DO use intra site searching when using google. Example: you are searching for Microsoft security essentials, if you put "site: microsoft.com" after your search keywords it will search through Microsofts site first and display those results before any other sites. 9. DO right click and select "Copy shortcut" for any unusual looking links and paste it into notepad, the displayed text for a link can be deceiving... http://www.ebay.com is much different from http://www.ebay.oedl.eds.something.com, websites are ready backwards starting with the .com then the primary domain, this example would be ebay. and.. 10. DO WATCH your kids internet and computer use.... No you are not snooping, or creeping, or invading privacy... you are being a good parent. I cannot stress this enough! The internet can be a dangerous place; I know, I've been there.... Look into http://www.opendns.com for keyword filtering, restricting websites, and many other free options. I hope this helps a bit, as I have been in the IT field for quite a few years I have seen all the different types of users, and one thing they all have in common is that they don't understand the technology. But with a couple easy to remember tips it is easy to stay away from viruses and maleware. one more, search: "uninstall software site: microsoft.com" and "removed Tool bars site: microsoft.com" get rid of un-needed programs and excessive toolbar addins.... if you have more than one tool bar in your internet explorer, you should get rid of them (and watch when installing apps, like yahoo messager, Adobe Reader, java, etc. They all have a prechecked checkbox to install a toolbar. just uncheck it.... ) O and Run an antivirus/antimaleware.... doesn't matter which just make sure some popup said if you buy this now it will fix your problems. Trust the trusted providers,

I dunno, but curious. Maybe Open a Computer Management window and then look at the Disk Management. Select the drive0 and properties, digging back until you really get that drive properties Properties/Hardware/Properties/Volume/Populate ... something like that anyhow.