i've had problems with AA-'07 crashing even under XP --- every time i download an update, and sometimes during a scan.   as such, i no longer recommend it... and in fact, I believe that just about everyone here has "thrown in the towel" so far as AA-'07 is concerned.

you wrote:   " Is there something else that i can download that is going to help me with virus protection?" 

I hope you realize that AA-'07 does NOT offer VIRUS protection.... rather, it's a scanner that can try to remove adware and/or some spyware.

let's start with some anti-malware suggestions (and I'll be right back with a/v & firewall):

Assuming they are compatible with your operating system (see requirements/links below),

my [free] anti-spyware recommendations are as follows:

resident protection:   Windows Defender and/or Spybot's TeaTimer.

additional on-demand scanners:  SuperAntiSpyware (SAS) and MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (MBAM)

immunization via Spybot, and SpywareBlaster.

pseudo-protection:   WinPatrol.

Here are the program links:

Most excellent. Your information has been a tremendous help.

ky331. Thanks for such a complete answer and all the sites. You always help so many. I am glad that you mentioned Spyware Blaster. I was wondering if this still was recommended. I appreciate your update on Adaware 2007. 

Annie,

I kept on trying AA-'07, probably longer than i should have.   i kept hoping they would finally get it right.   but it seems they haven't, even yet:

the latest version, 7.0.2.6, was loading slower than ever [until about 2 days ago, when, after LOTS of complaints, they finally found the source of the slowness].   moreover, 7.0.2.6 FREE is now "advertising" for their PLUS and PRO versions... making ad-Aware a form of adware itself!!!

I have uninstalled it from most of my machines... I still have it on one, but use it less and less.

I am no longer posting update information for it, since I don't want people to think I'm recommending it.

as for spywareblaster, absolutely, it's a great defensive program to have.   the reason why i hadn't spoken about it (the way several others have), is that i really hadn't been using it until relatively recently (believe it or not  --- i just can't test everything).   there are times when I in fact wonder if I already have enough protection... and fear overkill/conflicts... yet there are other times when I say, why not go ahead and test things out?   i have access to several machines, and often will "play" with programs on the older ones first (just in case).   i'm not sure why i hadn't been using spywareblaster [and likewise, spybot's immunization].   but at some point, i tested both, and have been satisfied with the results.    

for my personal  taste/usage, I have "tweaked" one setting in SpywareBlaster: 

under restricted sites, i have UNchecked the one marked

DoubleClick(2) doubleclick.net

simply because it seemed that just about EVERY site i use was "guilty" of invoking this, and i got tired of continually getting security warnings about it.   that's my choice... other users can decide for themselves.

there's a debate on whether or not spywareblaster "can be", "should be", "should not be", or "need not be" used under vista... for more on this, see:   http://www.dellcommunity.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=si_virus&thread.id=63159&view=by_date_ascending&page=1

in contrast, while I see many of the HJT experts still recommending spywareGuard, I don't, because it hasn't been kept up to date:   see post #2 here:  http://www.dellcommunity.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=si_virus&message.id=64505

finally, let's note that there are in fact many other programs "out there".    to mention some, I know Joe53 uses and recommends Comodo's BOClean, AVG AntiSpyware, and [one of the] A-Squared programs.   While I am not personally recommending any of these at this point, anything that passes muster by Joe might be worth considering.

I have heard varying opinions about whether Avast, AVG or any other free software is as good as a retail program like Kaspersky. 

If you are willing to pay money for virus protection, would you suggest the free software instead or would Kaspersky or another retail product be preferable?  Not only based on virus detection but also on lower system resource hogging?

My mom's old Dimension 4500S has been completely bogged down with Norton Internet Security...even after I installed 768MB of RAM for her.  (more RAM made a difference between night and day, but it is still much slower than it should be)

At anandtech the prefered free software for XP seems to be AOL Active Virus Shield

Hoofan_1:

Ask 100 different people what the "best" AV is, and you will likely get 100 different answers.

It is difficult to compare the free AVs to the paid programs, because there are no good independent testing websites that objectively evaluate the freebies, much less compare them to retail products. And the "winners" among the paid versions that are objectively tested change from test to test. So you will have to do your homework; read about the features offered, and decide what you need, in your own particular circumstances.

One independent testing site I recommend for the paid AVs is AV-comparatives.

If you click on the comparatives tab, and scroll down about 3/4's of the frame, you will see a summary report of 2007's tests, and an overview of how the paid contenders performed over the year.

I've tried the 3 main free AVs recommended hereabouts (AVG, avast, and AntiVir) and still recommend them all for the average home user. (I believe that AOL's free Active Virus Shield is no longer offered).

Not once did any of them let me down, and they all had a small footprint. Easy to install, easy to use, easy to uninstall. After the grief I had experienced with various McAfee and Norton products, they were a breath of fresh air. The biggest reservation I had about them was the lack of automatic updates, and the occasional server congestion that prevented timely manual updating.

A somewhat dated comparison of features of these free AVs is here.

Ultimately I chose a paid AV because I use this PC for work. I have had no regrets. It was a small price to pay, if only for peace of mind. IMHO to get the very best protection you do have to pay for it; I now get automatic updates several times daily from a product that consistently scores well in objective testing, which worked well on my system, and which gives me no problems. Whether "the very best" is worth the price is highly subjective.

The paid AVs I consider among the best are
- Avira's AntiVir Premium Edition
- ESET's NOD32
- Kaspersky AV

Resource usage is not a problem with any of them.

Tests (and testimonials) are fine as starting points, but ultimately you will have to trial them (and they all offer free, fully functional 30 day trials) to decide what works best for you.

BB wrote:   "That is because [SpywareGuard] is free and better than nothing at all. Most realtime monitoring of the registry is only included on paid software..."

I believe each of the following are current, viable, and free, products that offer such realtime monitoring:

SpyBot's TeaTimer module

Comodo's BOClean

http://www.comodo.com/boclean/boclean.html

SpywareDoctor Starter Edition [albeit at the "cost" of having to download/install GooglePack]

http://www.pctools.com/spyware-doctor/google_pack/

I am also going to assume that most XP users have obtained and are running Windows Defender in real-time... and that Vista users [who have Defender automatically included] have not disabled it.

I was wondering if you had any opinion/view on the relative merits of these... relative to SpywareGuard ?   Which one [or specific combination of these] would you recommend for the "average" user here?   Alternatively, aside from any reservations/objections to GooglePack , do you find faults with any of these?

EDITed to  remove  consideration of SpyWareDoctor STARTER EDITION, based on the highly pejorative information posted by Red Dawn in message 1 here:

http://www.dellcommunity.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=si_virus&message.id=66487&jump=true#M66487