[renielarson]

I have Norton 360 and am sold on it! IMHO, Norton 360 is the cream of the crop and provides anti virus, anti spyware, firewall, email scanning, antiphishing, and other automated protection features for my computer. Although it is pricey, I believe it is worth every penny.

I agree that McAfee is useless...been there, done that. Also...PC-cillin...not good

I have had AVG in the past and agree it's good..but only for spyware. Norton covers all bases. With Norton 360, there is no need for anything else.

I'm just a home user with a personal pc...have tried many other products...free and not free...just giving you my opinion based on personal experience.

As for error checking...it's easy to do it on your own...just go to My Computer and right click on the drive you want checked....then click on Properties then Tools...error checking is right there...click Check Now...then make sure you put a checkmark in BOTH boxes....then click Start...then click Schedule Disc Check. Now, shut down your computer and when it restarts it will check for any errors and fix them.

Hope this helps a little...

[renielarson]

One more thing Walkstop...I am serious about calling the support center for your computer (and/or virus protection software company you have)...although you may spend a lot of time on hold...they are very very good at fixing problems and it's worth all the time (hours?) you spend with them.

Been there...done that, again!

[walkstop]

What exactly does the error checking do? Does it check for corrupted files, viruses, spyware, or neither? Sometime when I have some free time I will try giving dell a call. I would agree though, Mcafee has never done any good for me.

Thanks for all of your help... :bigthumbsup:

[sistagurl]

I have been in the IT field for 20 years, if I was going to recommend any Antivirus to the average user it would be AVG Free Edition. AVG is top of the line in the antivirus field, and you can get a free version that updates the virus database everytime you start your system. So you get a free virus protection software and it updates everytime a new definition is added to the virus database. Give it a try, you have nothing to lose.

[PJ]

Here's a link to get the latest free version of AVG. I've been using AVG for years - it's very reliable.

http://www.download.com/AVG-Anti-Vir...html?tag=lst-1

[gowens1]

OK, First, Dell Tech support won't help you with a virus, or a suspected virus. They will refer you to Norton, or whatever they push now. Second, what operating system do you have. I have the Dell restore disks for Vista, XP, 98 and 95, if you have the SN# on the side of your case. Third, if the number of issues keeps changing you may be looking at a hard disk problem. That Dell tech support can help you with.
Norton should be able to fix all the problems, but you may need to run it from DOS ( remember DOS) You can make a Norton recovery disk for the older computers, not sure what they do now, maybe use a thumb drive.
If you really have 800+ infected files downloading to a backup drive will just move them. The only solution in that case is to "FDISK", "FORMAT" and "REINSTALL" . Then load an up to date version of Norton or any AV and bring the files back 1 at a time.
We did Dell tech support in Heathrow for years until they moved it to an unnamed Asian subcontinent, so I have some knowledge of the issue. You can contact me if you need at
gowens1@cfl.rr.com

gary