First, I want to thank everyone. I'd never heard of AVG (!) until reading about it here, and now I'm an AVG junkie.

In case you don't already know, AVG now offers another free scan for rootkits - hidden viruses. Go to the same download site where you get the anti-virus and anti-spyware scans.

ErrorDoctor (from the Lavasoft people who make Ad-Aware) scans your registry for destabilizing errors and corrects them. It costs about $20 a year, but worth it. I'd never cleaned my computer's registry during 6 years, and I found over 700 errors!

There's actually some good anti-virus software from Microsoft. Go to http://onecare.live.com/site/en-gb/defa ... ?mkt=en-gb for Windows Live OneCare. This takes about 80 minutes for a total scan, and it finds things other programs miss. It's free, which is why Microsoft doesn't advertise it. After your scan is done, you'll be directed to a page that tries to sell you Live OneCare in a version that scans continuously and is automatically updated, but you don't have to buy. Whenever you want a free scan, just do it.

I just ran Ad-Aware se, which detected 29 infections. Then, without doing anything else, I downloaded AVG Anti-Spyware. It found 125 additional infections. Enough said.

Have my new computer working - an HP with Vista Premium - and AVG Anti-Spyware won't run, even though AVG Anti-Virus will. Windows Defender came free - packaged with the computer - but after what I've read here, I didn't want to use it. I finally settled on Spyware Terminator, which works, and seems to be excellent.

In the May issue of a UK PC magazine - PCAnswers- Windows Live 1 Care featured in a review of software programs which offer anti virus, anti spyware, firewalls and web filtering etc.. It came bottom in the Test. Possibly the feature is online now, because the June magazine is just hitting the newstands.

I was surprised by the results because I was unaware of all the software available. In their review, BitDefender Antivirus Plus v10 scored the best points for a paid for program. The licence covers 2 PCs for 2 years; the review is very complimentary. Panda Antivirus +Firewall 2007 also scored well, as did the more expensive McAfee VirusScan Plus. Windows Live One Care was well beaten even by freeware. Despite its looks Avast 4 Home Edition - www.avast.com- scored 25% better than 1 Care; it is free. One Care is £35 in the UK.!! AVG Free Edition Anti Virus scored equally as One Care - minus the AVG AntiSpyware program.All of which proves a little research can give you heaps better protection than Microsoft can.

Following on from the above post I thought to add some advice if you are still running and enjoying using Windows 98. It is still possible to get good protection for your PC for free. AVG 7.5 Anti Virus runs on Win 98 but the paid for AVG Anti Spyware program is not compatible. I've found a free and very similar good Anti Spyware substitute by downloading free programs from Emsi Software.

The UK url is : http://www.emsisoft.com/en/ and although the most prominent feature on the page is a paid for product, if you glance half way down you'll find the free software. A-Squared Free is an Anti Spyware program which is slow but it is user friendly and very good. You'll also find a free anti-hijacker program, a-Squared Hijacker Free and a third program a-squared anti-dialler too.

Spybot is another major excellent program that runs perfectly in Windows 98. I also have downloaded and recommend SpywareBlaster which you can download from their own website found in Google. It not only supports Windows 98 it also defends both IE and Firefox. Don't feel abandoned just because Microsoft have dumped supporting you - the programs and software are out there to help run Windows 98 well.

I've been using Kaspersky Anti-Virus 6.0. This is a paid program - about $25 per year, after a mail-in rebate - but it seems to be worth it. I visited a site which summarizes product reviews from numerous trade magazines, and Kaspersky was the consensus choice. It does pretty much everything - anti-virus, spyware, rootkits, etc. - and does them all superbly, so far as I can tell. Ad-Aware se picks up *nothing* after Kaspersky is done. After a week, I feel this is the best I've ever used. So, if you've got a "spare" $25, I'd highly recommend it.

You can get Kaspersky at E-Bay for around $22 as a download. Great deal!

Old thread, but IE7 actually works with a few tweaks.

Before installing it, uninstall ALL toolbars, Yahoo, MSN, Google, AOL, etc.

And during the installation, turn OFF your Antispyware and Antivirus.

Either can cause problems with IE7 installation (which is really almost like a Windows Service Pack as much as a browser upgrade).

After installing IE7, redownload whatever toolbars you want to use.

I use the TWEAKS at http://www.enhanceie.com to move the menu bar back to the top and increase my connection limit back to 10.

I like Spybot Search & Destroy, which is free, but it can cause trouble with Vista if you use the IMMUNIZE feature.

Otherwise it seems to run fine.

One thing I see ALL these antispyware programs do is find cookies & declare them to be 'infections'. I don't see cookies as a threat, but the spyware programs find them just to make it look like they are doing something. After deleting all your cookies, you have to log back in at your favorite websites...what a PAIN! LOL