clean everything manually and then run the antivirus software to clean it up. Done in 15 min with almost all viruses. I may run some root kit software if it is real bad. The major downside to those computers that have a restore partition on the hard drive is exactly that: it's on the hard drive. Viruses can and do infect that partition, so restoring from it just gets rid of your files without affecting the virus at all. When a pop-up occurs that is NOT from your paid for anti-virus program and says "You may have a virus" -- click for a free scan -- I turn off the computer at the power switch. NOT the power down button, but the power switch. That cuts your power and your connection to the internet immediately and thus prevents the phony-pop up virus detector from completing its nefarious mission. (By contrast, the power down button turns the computer off in stages, thus allowing time for the virus to install itself.) When a person gets a virus that demands $39.99 to clean up your computer -- NEVER PAY! Simply go into Safe Mode by pressing F8. Look into folders and find any that were downloaded at the time when you noticed the virus. Delete those folders. Do a search in "programs and files" of the name of the virus on the pop-up, and delete those files that show up with that name. Then restore your computer to a about a month previous...