I think spyware seems to be a bigger problem than viruses these days. You may want to look at something that integrates virus protection, firewall and spyware monitoring. I've been using AOL Safety and Security (McAfee based) and it seems to be okay. I like it because it updates automatically and can be scheduled to do quick scans or full scans as often as you like. I just got a new laptop which included a subscription to McAfee Security Center, which is similar, although I'm not sure it scans for spyware, which is a must! IT person at work likes Norton Internet Security, Antispyware Edition, but thinks McAfee is good too. Microsoft has a free antispyware program available for download. I don't think it's ever caught anything though. Spyware Doctor has a trial version, and it seems to catch all kinds of things, although it can take up a lot of CPU when it wants to. I agree with those who have touted Ad-Aware...nice little program.

Be VIGILANT with your computer's security. I'm obsessive about scans and such, but my old laptop picked up something that messed up all my Office apps, and I had to wipe the hard drive to get rid of it. I think my desktop here may have something too. Lots of freeze ups and such. Need to wipe this hard drive anyway...PITA hard drive partitions!