I finally got my brother over this past weekend for surgery on my tower...we installed the new 120G hard drive and found that one of my RAM memory boards was bad...so we ditched the bum board for a new 256K unit which now beefs my RAM up to 512K...he provided the XP operating system and a few other software items...we feel pretty certain this virus got in by way of a bad MP3 file, so if any of you out there download music from the web, beware!...make sure you have up-to-date security...adware,spyware and virus protection. So I sunk about $200 (before rebates) and the unit is now running like a rocket...I realize its a 5yr old box and 512ram/866mhz/120G are not impressive numbers by todays standards but it was alot less than a whole new unit...oh btw, if you're running XP (and if you havent already) go to the Microsoft website and download Service Pak 2...it has a lot of nice goodies for both security and smooth operation.

Just be careful with XP SP 2 T-bat -- people with, pardon the expression, "custom-tuned" PCs like me had more problems that help from Service Pack 2. Always make sure you create a restore point before a major update or change.

And upgrade your processor old man!

yeah, processor would definately help out a lot, also, the ram is measured in MB's not K's so you would 512MB of ram, just an FYI. Also, it is HIGHLY recommended that if you have a hard drive larger than 60GB you should partition, meaning you theoretically chop the hard drive space in half with FDisk. An example would be a primary partition of maybe 15 or 20 gigs with your operating system on it, and the remaning space left free. The free space would be where you would want to store all your programs and things like that, that way if you ever did get a virus you couldnt get out, all you would have to do is format and reinstall on the OS partition and your secondary partition with all your programs, music, pics and whatever else will still be there and will be safe. Just my 2 cents

Welcome back online Tbat.

MP3's cannot carry viruses.

thanx for all the imput guys... and not trying to cause any flaming here but my brother told me the virus came in through KaZaa...(I'm assuming he knows what he's talking about since it is his means of employment)the only thing I've used that (now deleted) program for was mp3 music files...maybe someone piggybacked it or I suppose it could have come in cookie form...all I know is I'll never have another file sharing program like that on my PC again...and yes I do have an older proccessor, but its working so well and moving so quick now it may be some time before I worry about sinking the bucks for that (prolly be ready for a new box by then)

Yeah, sounds like a file piggybacked one of the mp3s you downloaded, becuase, like Bryant said, mp3s can't carry viruses. Also, 4rsssfed_grandprix98 has a good point. I partitioned my 100 gig into 70 and 30 and it makes it much easier to format the hdd without having to back up every mp3, movie, or document.

Use Kazaa Lite

actually KaZaa lite was the program I had...I think what happened is that downloaded a file that was labeled as an mp3...cause I ran across more than one that once they were in the shared folder, they wouldnt play...the speaker just sat there and buzzed...that seems kind of suspicious to me...at any rate, I'm just happy to have it back up and working so well. I think I'll stick to downloading music at one of these new site where you get songs for like 79 or 99 cents...it might cost a little but it should be more secure or my security software should catch it. I'll check with my bro on this partioning the hard drive...get him to show me how its done...thanx again for all the feedback fellas