DSO

I use AVG - it updates reasonably often, it is light on resources compared to Norton and McAffe (that I have used earlier), and it is free. I am quite aware that it may not be the number one anti-virus, though. If I was to vote for which anti-virus I thought was most secure, and not what I actually use, my reply would be different. I think that the most important measure against malware is to be careful about where you browse and what you download, though. I use Sandboxie in doubtful cases. Still, combined with a software firewall to control application behaviour, I think AVG is enough. (Well, combined with a few other anti-malware products, such as AdAware, Ewido, Spybot and Spywareblaster, lol.) So far, I haven't had any really bad malware. Some spyware and adware that was difficult to get rid of, yes, but nothing that could cause harm my or others' computers. To be sure, I am into backup images. If I do get some malware that is more serious than annoying tracking cookies and such, I tend to restore to a clean image rather than wonder if I have really gotten rid of it.

I use an old version of Kerio (I do not think it exists as a personal free firewall anymore) in addition to the hardware firewall that comes with my router. I like to be able to control application behaviour. Kerio has a smaller footprint than the other software firewalls I have tried - Norton, McAfee, ZoneAlarm and Sygate, and is stable. I t only crashes if I try to open the GUI while running Azureus... I read about Winpooch earlier in this thread, though. It seems like it might do the work just as well - I shall give it a try, and compare the two.

I would just like to say I am impressed by your forum - I ran across it by chance a few days ago, and considered linking to it, tipping people off about a place to go to read up on Windows, and get competent help if needed. Would that be OK? I would like to be of help, but while I am a reasonably competent user, I do not quite have the insights into the workings of Windows I see reflected in many posts here. I may be good at explaining simple things pedagigically, lol. We'll see if that is needed some time. Until then, I will lurk around a bit and learn more. Nice to be here!

For starters: I did search the forum, and this suggestion in an earlier thread thread gives me half an answer. To start from the beginning. Because of some malware I did not trust I could completely clear out of my system, I reformatted the C: harddive and re-installed Windows XP Pro (slipstreamed with SP 2). I then restored to a clean backup image with some programs and updates installed, and did the rest of the Windows updates. Then I continued to install more programs, including Windows Office 2003 (I have an enterprise edition from work.) I installed a fresh copy of Mozilla Firefox, and agreed to have it as my default browser when it asked. It took a while before I noticed that I no longer had any icons for .htm and .html files, so I do not know exactly when that happened. I tried fixing it by changing the association and icons in Folder Options, but it didn't help. So, I figured I might as well try from scratch. I applied the XP File Association Fixes for htm/html files from Doug Knox. That didn't help, I still could not change the icons. I then downloaded and applied the VBS script mentioned above, from Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP - and that fixed half the problem, lol, meaning that I do get icons for .htm and .html files, but it is the IE icon, and they are also associated with IE. Still, default settings would be a good place to start. Again, I opened Firefox, and agreed to have it as my default browser. NOTE that the file associations work after that. Double-clicking or clicking "Open" after a right-click on a htm/html file will launch Firefox. The icons just won't change, though. I looked into Start -> Set program access and defaults, and while "Custom" is checked, it says "Use my current web browser" no matter if I try to set it to Firefox. Going to Folder Options, I can change to Firefox allright. I have tried all three icons offered from the Firefox.exe, but there is no change in what happens afterwards. Namely that The "Advanced" tab disappears. I can still try to change file association using the "Change" button, but it stubbornly reverts back to Microsoft Office 2003 component. (See image at Photobucket here.) That is the icon I see at my desktop, if I place a .htm file there, and in Explorer. I have launched each Office 2003 application, looking for some setting that would explain this mess. I looked in Tools -> Options in each, and found nothing to change in Access, Excel, InfoPath, Publisher, Visio or Word. In FrontPage I unchecked "Open web pages in the Office application that created them", and in PowerPoint I unchecked "Check if Office is the default editor for web pages created in Office". Doesn't help. It seems that changing file association from the default IE will make Office hijack the settings. And I have run out of ideas - I am speculating that there is some registry setting, but I really do not have the know-how even to start looking for what it might be. Any help would be greatly appreciated. True, this does not affect performance, but it is dang annoying! Pardons for the long-worded post, but I figured it would be best to try to clearly decribe the problem and what I have tried to do about it.