Long time no write

And I forgot the part about my computer contracting several viruses and even though I got Norton and it said it got rid of them I still can't use the computer without it freezing randomly. It freezes immediately if I try to use IE or Windows Explorer. It freezes sporadically if I'm doing anything else. Don't know what the fuck to do about that.

(1) the generic advice is to start the computer in safe mode with networking, then using IE to hit norton's online scan

generally most viruses won't start up with the system when you start in safe mode

(2) stuff that hooks into IE (explorer, of course, *being* IE in windows) can be a bit harder to deal with. if i was doing the service call i would take a scan through with hijackthis (again, in safe mode with networking) and i'd remove all non-essential IE hooks. then i'd reboot into safe mode with networking again and do the online scan.

i'd start with (1). if that doesn't deal with it then (2) will likely be a bit too much of a headache for you.

when you get your system fixed, using something like mozilla, opera or netscape instead of IE to avoid infections in future. in you have to use IE then obviously continue to use IE.

(also, in the same vein, ditch outlook and outlook express as well. they use the same IE framework and thus are vulnerable to the same things that IE is... which is pretty much everything... ;)

i'm not getting the right page right now because i'm using mozilla in linux, but you want to go to http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/ and then click on the "check for security risks" button. That should bring you to the right place using IE in windows. (You want the virus scan, not the security vulnerabilities garbage)

Sorry I can't be more helpful. Sucks. *hugs*