
I am a "Technologist", a Technology enthusiast that is usually the one that is called should a major catastrophe strike an end user. My saga of computer rescues becomes a plot that is ever so thickening, if not only for the fact that's it's becoming incredibly easy for hackers and malicious code writers these days to invade personal property to find, seek, and destroy. Each year, virus and hacker threats increase, and in addition the damage trail left behind is something of a problem. Not to forget, a majority of "PC Panic" cases I've come across are often times the same common, "major" problem.
First step : buy an old pentium and install a real firewall on it.
Second step : send your copies of Windows, Norton and Sygate to the Salvation Army.
Third step : format your hard disk.
Fourth step: install the stable branch of a free OS on your disk
Fifth step : sit down, relax and enjoy your computer for the first time in your life.
From now on, you won't spend your hard earned money either on a Fisher Price operating system (Windows) or on scotch tape that prevent Windows from collapsing (antivirus, Sygate and other nonsense). No more "Code Red", "Melissa" or "Tchernobyl".