Anti-Virus
and
Firewall Software

I have implemented a link to On-line Virus scan pages for those who may not have an Anti-Virus programme on their machine.

Check your PC for the Sasser Worm and its Variants

Trend Micro - House Call
Authentium - Command on Demand

The only problem with carrying out an On-line scan is that if a virus is found it obviously is already on your machine. The links I have implemented require that you download a piece of software to install on your machine in order to carry out the On-line scan.
For those of you who may not have an Anti-Virus progamme installed you can get a free download programme at the following address:
http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_dwnl_free.php this link takes you to the download page for Grisoft, it is not perfect but it does do the job.
http://www.avast.com/i_idt_153.html another freebie by Alwil software.
There are many free Anti-virus programmes available on the Internet, if neither of the above are suitable to you do a search on one of the search engines (Google is as good as any) using free antivirus software as the search phrase.

At the risk of being accused of teaching you to suck eggs, an Anti-virus programme is not sufficient on its own. If possible you should install a Firewall programme as well. Those of you who have Windows XP will no doubt tell me that the operating system has one built in. When I last enquired it was not rated too highly and it was suggested that I should try another product.
Here are a couple of Firewall programmes (again freebies) so to all you tight fisted Yorkshire people like myself it won't be too painful.
http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/company/products/znalm/freeDownload.jsp Zone Labs Zone Alarm Firewall.
http://smb.sygate.com/products/spf_standard.htm Sygate Personal Firewall.

Hope these are of some help to you.

DH