This is NOT apparently, a popular suggestion, but it is the best and most economical solution to such issues. Your "security" issue is not because of the browser you choose, rather, it's primarily your choice of Operating System that brings about your problems... I have been on line and running Opera, Netscape/Mozilla, Epiphany, K-Meleon, and at times a few others too, all at the very same time for as long as 8 months continuously without ever a shut down, reboot, disconnect or process-kill. And never a virus or a worm or a rootkit or a tracker or a logger or a trojan, never an anything. Get a Linux distribution well suited to your usage and needs, an outgoing firewall, never sign on as "root" and you're pretty much good to go, and go, and go, and go..... Then again, if you're really concerned about "security" and other such subjects, you can get OpenBSD and by default be about as secure as is currently known to be humanly possible.... The link is to the OpenBSD "security" page....The first ten or twelve paragraphs are well worth reading Here is a link that might be useful: Security IS attainable....for free too

Logfile of Trend Micro HijackThis v2.0.4 Scan saved at 4:47:37 PM, on 9/18/2011 Platform: Windows XP SP3 (WinNT 5.01.2600) MSIE: Internet Explorer v8.00 (8.00.6001.18702) Boot mode: Normal Running processes: C:\WINDOWS\System32\smss.exe C:\WINDOWS\system32\winlogon.exe C:\WINDOWS\system32\services.exe C:\WINDOWS\system32\lsass.exe C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe C:\WINDOWS\system32\ZoneLabs\vsmon.exe C:\WINDOWS\Explorer.EXE C:\Program Files\AVAST Software\Avast\AvastSvc.exe C:\WINDOWS\RTHDCPL.EXE C:\WINDOWS\system32\spoolsv.exe C:\Program Files\Zone Labs\ZoneAlarm\zlclient.exe C:\Program Files\AVAST Software\Avast\avastUI.exe C:\WINDOWS\system32\ctfmon.exe C:\PROGRA~1\Webshots\Webshots.scr C:\Program Files\Logitech\MouseWare\system\em_exec.exe C:\Program Files\AGI\core\4.0\AGCoreService.exe C:\Program Files\Java\jre6\bin\jqs.exe C:\Program Files\Common Files\LightScribe\LSSrvc.exe C:\WINDOWS\system32\nvsvc32.exe C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe C:\WINDOWS\system32\SearchIndexer.exe C:\WINDOWS\system32\SearchProtocolHost.exe C:\Program Files\Trend Micro\HiJackThis\HiJackThis.exe R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Page_URL = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=69157 R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Search_URL = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896 R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Search Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896 R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=69157 R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Window Title = Windows Internet Explorer provided by Comcast O2 - BHO: Adobe PDF Reader Link Helper - (06849E9F-C8D7-4D59-B87D-784B7D6BE0B3) - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Acrobat\ActiveX\AcroIEHelper.dll O2 - BHO: Groove GFS Browser Helper - (72853161-30C5-4D22-B7F9-0BBC1D38A37E) - C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12\GrooveShellExtensions.dll O2 - BHO: avast! WebRep - (8E5E2654-AD2D-48bf-AC2D-D17F00898D06) - C:\Program Files\AVAST Software\Avast\aswWebRepIE.dll O2 - BHO: Java(tm) Plug-In 2 SSV Helper - (DBC80044-A445-435b-BC74-9C25C1C588A9) - C:\Program Files\Java\jre6\bin\jp2ssv.dll O2 - BHO: JQSIEStartDetectorImpl - (E7E6F031-17CE-4C07-BC86-EABFE594F69C) - C:\Program Files\Java\jre6\lib\deploy\jqs\ie\jqs_plugin.dll O3 - Toolbar: avast! WebRep - (8E5E2654-AD2D-48bf-AC2D-D17F00898D06) - C:\Program Files\AVAST Software\Avast\aswWebRepIE.dll O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [RTHDCPL] RTHDCPL.EXE O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Logitech Utility] Logi_MwX.Exe O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [ZoneAlarm Client] "C:\Program Files\Zone Labs\ZoneAlarm\zlclient.exe" O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [avast] "C:\Program Files\AVAST Software\Avast\avastUI.exe" /nogui O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [NvCplDaemon] RUNDLL32.EXE C:\WINDOWS\system32\NvCpl.dll,NvStartup O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [ctfmon.exe] C:\WINDOWS\system32\ctfmon.exe ...

this is all info for AVAST the I ball that is beside the blue A ball you want to right click that and tell it to join the A ball, can not remember the terminology but it will just make one ball, you can also drag it onto the A ball to do that. You will need to change the proxy settings in your IE browser so that your web shield is working properly. here are the directions for how to do that Configuration of the Web Shield HTTP proxy If you bring up Avast screen with a regular left click then click details it will open up so you can see the various aspects, it should be set to High sensitivity then if you scroll down on the left to the web shield if you see no activiity and zero counted then you know you have to set up that proxy as instructed in my link, if you do not that part is not working and you want that to work. Following the directions is very very easy I have had to do it on all of mine.

"Browser Defender" is a legitimate program, but that DOES NOT mean that the "alert" is legitimate! This shows why these things work for the ones trying to cause trouble. They often attach a legitimate name or a similar sounding name and people go oh, that's safe and BAM, your suckered. Keep alert folks, there's more to it than meets the eye. When you have stuff like this popping up, it's time to double check your defenses. When you say you can't do anything on your computer, is that because you're infected? If so, you may well be infecting your husband's system too. Let's face it, IF your system is infected and that's causing the trouble, then it's likely that your husband's machine is no better secured than yours, and your surfing habits allow stuff in. If that's the case, it's only a matter of time before his machine is paralyzed too, again, assuming that your machine is infected. You need to take action now. You need a good antivirus program and there's a lot of good free ones out there too so there's no excuse for not having one. AVG, Avira, Avast are a few good free ones, but you need to understand that many malware issues are not viruses so an antivirus is only one tool you need in your defense arsenal. Don't think that just because you have an antivirus, you have everything you need. You may have a stove in your house but you probably need a refrigerator too. And a toilet. And a sink. Don't get fooled into thinking one appliance will do everything for you. Your most important and first line of defense is a firewall. Windows built in firewall is feeble at best but better than nothing until you can immediately get something better. I like Comodo the best of all I've used. Spybot, SuperAntiSpyware, A-squared, Malwarebytes and more are good anti-malware programs and supplement your antivirus. They do different jobs. Spywareblaster is an excellent program, especially if you insist on using Internet Explorer. IE is the swiss cheese of browsers, security-wise. You're inviting trouble by using it. Opera, Safari, Firefox, K-meleon, Mozilla, Chrome, there's lots of excellent browsers out there far more secure. Advanced SystemCare is a fantastic multi-function program to keep in the arsenal. Watch your email. Don't just open it because it tells you to! Although infections through email are far less common these days there's still enough of them to warrant concern. Most malware these days come from "drive by" infections. You go to a site and it installs it on your system and you won't even know about it when you don't use a firewall, real-time antivirus and check for malware regularly. But the most important thing to staying safe is yourself. Educate yourself on safe surfing. Don't be afraid to use your computer, but use it safely. I haven't had a virus on my system in over 10 years and caught all of them that got on there. (They were email attachments from foolish people who forward every "cute" thing to everyone in their address book.) I credit this to several things: 1) Using Opera as my primary browser. It's the most secure browser out there. 2) Having Spywareblaster on my machines. I was laughed at by many of the people in the Comphelp forum when I suggested Spywareblaster (at the time - *most* of those people are now gone) but it showed promise to me and has long since proven itself. 3) I regularly update Windows, browsers, antivirus, malware detectors, etc. 4) The firewall is the first thing installed on a system and it's turned on BEFORE connecting to the internet. Occasionally I get a caution that something is wrong and I can look at it and see that it should not be installing something like that. 5) I replace all feeble programs with better ones. IE and Windows Firewall as examples. For that matter I even replace the calculator, media player, even the clock and Notepad programs with better stuff. Makes "computing" more productive and enjoyable. 6) I don't click on popups! I close them. And by using Opera I get very few unwanted popups anyway. 7) If I am suspicious that something might have gotten past my multi-layered defenses, I'll use an online scanner like TrendMicro or Bitdefender to do an online scan of my system (or the system in question). and the last thing I can think of offhand, though there probably will be more I think of later: 8) I try to educate myself on cons. One of my biggest frustrations is when I see someone jump on the internet shouting "LOOK EVERYONE, I'M USING MY NEW COMPUTER!!! JUST GOT IT TODAY!!!!!! I know that's a service call waiting to happen. And then they blame the computer. (sigh) Happy and safe computing to all and to all a good afternoon.