Linux used to be for geeks only. The vast majority of people don't realize how easy and efficient Linux has become. My mother who is 80 years old had her hard drive crash last year and she had many valuable photos and financial records on it that would have been hard to replace. She took her computer to the "Geek Squad" at Best Buy and tried to have them transfer all the information from her old hard drive to a new one. After keeping her computer awhile they informed her that there was nothing they could do and since she did not have a backup of anything (computers no longer ship with a backup copy of Windows) they could only replace her old drive and charge her a hundred and something dollars for a brand new copy of Windows 7 on top of labor costs and parts. To make a long story short I went down to the store and asked them why they just didn't pop a copy of Linux in since I had done that earlier and read everything on her old drive. They told me that "corporate" would not allow them to do that because of the Gnu license. I took the computer back, bought a hard drive adaptor for around 30 dollars and did it myself. The freedom one has with linux is refreshing. Spend a $150 for Microsoft Office? I use Open Office free and can do anything with it Microsoft Office does. Computer crashes and need a new one? I can buy any old computer for very little money and put Linux on it free and it will run trouble free without slowing down or crashing like a new system with Windows X inevitably will and I will not have to constantly check for viruses or trojans. The bottom line is Linux is superior to windows in many ways. I suggest anyone wanting to try it start with Linux Mint and simply run it off the CD without installing it.

Nearandwest, you have discovered the best forum on GW. The great people here have helped me out of so many problems, I couldn't even list them all! Its embarrassing, but each time I think I have learned everything, my computers hit me with more. It is an ongoing, learning process. Owbist...good minds think alike. I am only doing this to learn something about cleaning out nasties. Believe me, I told him to come for help and get his computer fixed, but he didn't...he started using my computers. That was the 'straw.' I'm not sure if I can use MS Security Essentials on his XP machine. It is 4 yrs old. Raven, you have the patience of a saint! He uses his computer in his office and I am rarely in there unless he yells for help with something. As a result, I think he would receive notifications of updates and just ignore them. There is no other reason for some versions of software being so old. I have been cleaning up his machine all weekend and discovered Spywareblaster hadn't been updated since 10/09. I downloaded Secunia and he had so many old and dead versions of things its ridiculous. I am setting everything to automatic. If I can run MS Security Essentials, I will. I ran MWB and it found 2 infections. I'm now running ESECT again and so far it has found another Trojan. So I guess I'll wait for Corinne to return and continue to work on it. At least its working and I'm able to see everything again, plus I can update things. Thanks for your support, this is certainly an interesting experience. Jane

it looks legit Lynn since it is Macromedia and is in system 32 folder, however if you want to play it safe just go right to the adobe flash site and get your download from there so you know for sure. Download the most recent version of Adobe Flash Player.

yes you can use it on your new pc when you buy it you pick a name to use and it will give you a code specific to your name. Once you get the new pc you just install the free version of winpatrol then hit the plus tab and it will ask for that name and code just enter that and it will be the full plus version on the new pc. This is not an antivirus or antimalware program as Corrine mentioned it is to run in addition to any of those programs what it does is say you happen to go to a website that has a malicious "drive by" infection that tries to install on your pc it will alert you that something is trying to make changes to your computer and ask if you want to allow it or not. It is similar to how a firewall will sometimes ask you what you want to do. In some cases you may not know the right answer but it has a feature that you can check and see what is recommended or you can do a quick google search if you are not sure. It may take some time to learn what things are to be allowed and what are not but it definitely will help you understand what is happening on your pc. And of course if you find it not to your liking you can disable it or remove it and you only lost 99c. Corrine has a good tutorial on LzD winpatarol forums about how to remove it should anyone need to. Very simple. For anyone that misses the sale there is of course the free version of winpatrol, the benefit of the plus version is that it is running in real time so if it sees anything happening it tells you immediately. Yes this is a lifetime subscription for 99c and you can move it to a new pc. And of course it is for some and NOT for others!!! IF it is not for you, you can simply walk on by.