mikie: "You might look online to see if you have the actual email account there & perhaps your missing mails are there ... Outlook.com" Thanks for the link. Yes, it looks like I do have an account there; but the missing emails aren't there, either - just the one 'welcome' type of email from Outlook. "Windows 8 has a Mail application in the new modern tiles ." Yep, I tried accessing that dozens of times; but each time I log in to set up a new account it says I already have an account. And this started before I even opened up the Outlook account. That's all I get from that page as I'm just stuck in a black hole after that. Not literally black, but just the page where it says set up your account, and nothing else - no backing up into the previous page, or going forward - such is Windows 8 - ha. As far as having the three malware programs; I have all 3 on my laptop and haven't encountered any problems with spyware/malware since installing them a couple of years ago - in combination with MSE. They all seem to work very well together. I put them on my laptop after having a couple of infections. Also, since uninstalling McAfee on W8 earlier today, the internet is now zipping along (knock on wood). Thanks for your advice everyone.

My computer is fully updated. I did Google the error, which, by the way is 0x80004003 (not 2) and found one suggestion which must have been before the beta2 version. I did find that if I opened the program from the Start menu I could run the scan with no problem. So I guess this is just a bug. Did find quite a few entries for this error. I may just uninstall the program and later try a re-download and install.

I have never had a virus until I started prepping for W10. When I start downloading my software, I got something that locked up my toolbar, safesearch I think and wajam. I did a system restore, then a friend told me it was still in restore and told me how to get rid of it there. Later I picked up a virus with no name, it just had gen in the name with other stuff. It froze my Avast and my PC. I waited a few minutes and I was able to use IE. Downloaded Adware cleaner and that took care of the second one.

The website pcmag.com is the remnant of the highly respected but now defunct PC Magazine, with many of the same contributors (Neil Rubenking, John Dvorak, etc) still around and active. The contributors they have are mostly experienced and responsible professionals, not the pimply faced geeky types found on other sites. Now as during its heydays as the leading PC publication for the general public, its aim is to reach a mostly non-technical readership with interesting and useful articles. It's not as technical as a trade publication, nor as basic as "XXX for Dummies". I've been a reader and admirer of their work for decades.