antivirus

usually i do a pretty good job of taking care of my pc i defrag use system mechanic 5 pro i scan for viruses with norton i think 2004 and i use the newest versions of adaware but lately i been getting lazy and i think i may have come across some bad stuff i get lots of errors when i try to use IE but firefox is fine i get a ton of pop ups with IE and i cant get rid of them unless i end proc tree with task manager they keep coming back if i end the proc i have to end the proc tree anyways i can live with IE not working but i also get errors a lot when using programs such as Skype i jus feel like my pc is not at its best an im sure i have a virus or maybe a few because norton said i did however it says it cant remove it thats whats so frustrating norton is no good to me i dont need to pay for a program to tell me i have a virus i need it to remove it so my question is whats the best antivirus to use and also whats a good firewall??? thanks ahead of the time sorry bout the long post i talk a lot

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Are your Norton DAT files updated? Having (un-updated)Norton on your computer is like having a dead guard dog~

If you DAT files are updated i would recommend keeping norton, but also downloading Microsoft Spyware Beta*. Bootup in safe mode, delete any values in your startup registry that should not be there. Also check MSCONFIG ~

Run McAfee, then Microsoft Spyware, then reboot~ If that doesnt clear things up your going to need to reformat

when you say DAT files do you mean like the virus definitions and whatever else norton has me downloading every week?? if so yes its updated if you mean something else how would i find out if its updated?? and i know how to get into the registry and all that but when you say something that shouldnt be there what exactly would i be looking for how do i spot something that shouldnt be there? and also since i installed my new video card everytime i turn my pc on or reboot everything is BLACK i dont see anything untill windows magicly appears lol so how do i start in safe mode?? sorry these might be simple questions to you but my pc knowledge is "sloppy" i could tell you how to do some complicated stuff but something simple i could have a hangup on lol i hope i dont sould like im pc illiterate or jus plain stupid but even if i do i have to ask if i want to know the answers right? i read thru this site time to time you guys have helped me multiple times without me having to post :) once again sorry for this long "story" like post

By DAT files i do mean the virus definitions. Some people get norton, dont pay for the subscription, never update, BUT wonder why they get viruses and CLAIM Norton doesnt work. Since this does not apply to you i would say try the second approach.

To boot in safe mode you normally have to hit F8,F*0, or F*2 on the boot screen. Since you cant see the Boot screen i would recommend getting the right video card for you computer because this could be causing some functional issues with windows.

The registry values that should not be there are sometimes very obvious. If you see BritneySpearsPornXXX.exe it doesnt belong in your startup (Unless of corse you put it there :p ). My best recommendation is to clear everything out of your startup registry values and msconfig startup. After you do this, go back and add the programs you want to run. This way you eliminate the possibility of a program key being spoofed.

Hope i've cleared things up a bit

If you dont know what your doing with antiviruses go to [URL=http://housecall.trendmicro.com]here[/URL]. That will give you a virus scan and delete them without you doing anything.

okay i am a serious gamer so my graphics card is important to me i only have a pci slot the integrated card i have couldnt play bf2 so i had to buy a new card the best one i found was the nvidia geforce fx 5500 256mb thats what im using now and i cant disable the on***rd graphics card or the nvidia doesnt work its all weird so anyways when using the nvidia card i dont see any screens untill my windows is on the screen that says Welcome but i did have a question you said norton was good then you said something bout mcafee are those the same or which one should i use