do i have a virus?

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my computer has been doing the following things the last 3 months:

1. videos streaming unusually qiuckly
2. it shut down once while i was installing an update
3. on youtube before i put on a video it says i dont have the latest flash player for a second, and then the vid appears
extra info:
i have vista, and i tried to dowload firefox but i got rid of it quickly, and i was sent a vid over MSN messenger, but i deleted it stright away. I have norton but my subscripion has ran out, it still works but im not getting updates...

am i infected?

PLEASE ANSWER! IM SO SCARED!

sounds so, what i would do is go to symantec website get the removal tool for your version of norton and have it remove norton, then restart computer and install avg or avast (both free) and install an anti ad-spyware such as spybot s-d or ad-ware se personal then after installation, run the scans in SAFE mode. to get into safe mode is press f8 while restarting until you see a list then use arrow keys to highlight safe mode then press enter key then select windows vista operating system

even though with links that things appear to be legit, its always wise to ask sender to confirm if they acutally sent it, many times (i have only had msn for at least 6 months now) and a couple of people on my list have had infections and some infections send spam or links to sites that load trojans and viruses in the machine.

also a good idea is to at least every week check for updates from microsoft (unless you have computer set to automatically check) and for avg or your favorite antispyware/adware and antivirus.

hope this helps, good luck

USE Firefox, and only use IE for banking sites (don't know why they still have that "IE only" restriction")

also run Ad-aware, some malware can be detected that way. It's from Lavasoft...and free...

You have a virus?



Can I play with it?



LOL, sorry. (The keyboard above is a Access Virus TI.) Based on the three above it's hard to tell if you have a virus. Get Ad-Aware, Spybot Search and Destroy and Avast. They're all free and will help you out.

And try AVG free 8.0, it good with catching viruses too.

if you still think you have a virus go to:
http://forums.spywareinfo.com/
I think there's also another forum, but can't remember it right now.

No problems using Firefox with the banks in the UK or France. Perhaps it's "world" dependent.

I use firefox for banking here. Well, when I'm not so broke as to not have a bank acct.

The ONLY thing I have to use IE for is microsoft stuff, like the updates. Other than that, I avoid it.

I even uninstall it, yes it can be done, but no, it does not remove windows explorer. It basically just removes all icons and takes it out of the programme list.

Oh yea, here is the US Ought mention that

I thought it was the same in other countries. It seems like in my country some bank sites still require IE.

EDIT: It seems my bank now allows Firefox , but they still have that "IE required"logo