Nope, Bought this machine about 6 months ago specifically for FS2004, it's a genuine Dell according to the documentation I received when FedEX dropped it off :-)Jay

>safety items such as firewall, virus scanner, etc. would>extend this.>My firewall is still on (the Win XP standard SP 2) when I flywith active internet connection. Should this not be enough?

>it pops up and tells me it's blocked a worm or a trojan horse>from getting to my computer...complete with all the details>right down to the IP address of the person sending it to me. >>>All of this while I'm on with vatsim with nothing else open>aside from the usual instant message programs and the programs>needed to fly online.>How can a worm or trojan infect the computer just by being connected to internet? Should'n a firewall be able to stop this?

"it's a genuine Dell"Ahhh, that explains it.Greg

I'd personally recommend Sophos, I'm using that. It's rated the best out there, searches around 10,000 more virus's than NAV. Norton Anti virus/Mcaffee some of the worst - occording to PC Pro mag, which did a review on the virus programs available (UK mag).

I had the same decision some time ago. I was having stutters and after uninstalling Norton they were gone. I was considering 3 antiviruses:AVG, Nod32 and KasperskyAfter some search decided for NOD32 due to the proved heuristics and light resources use. I don't believe that already known virus/worms are the problem. The problem are "in the wild" ones. Already got one example from NOD catching one of those. Since I dumped Norton needed a firewall. For inbound decided for a router for outbound I'm using Process Guard (it's isn't a firewall but a program that protects your process and prevents unknown ones to start). This decision was made after seeing that no software firewall was 100% leak proof. After using this program decided not to use a Trojan program however there good ones like TDS3 or BoClean.Some resources:Forumshttp://www.dslreports.com/forum/security,1http://www.wilderssecurity.com/index.php?Independent testshttp://www.firewallleaktester.com/http://www.icsalabs.com/http://www.westcoastlabs.org/Jos

Howdy,If Port 445 is open (which it is, even when using XP's SP2), then, yep.

These are my rules. Works great. :)1. Replace IE with something like Firefox (no IE exploits for you!)2. Use an external firewall blocking all incoming (prevent worms)3. Don't download and run programs except from trusted sources. (prevent viruses)4. Don't stick storage devices (disks) into your computer without trusting the source. 5. In case of an accident, use a web based virus scanner.

Cool, now I can say that I've met someone who thinks that he knows better!

As for the people who have chosen one anti-virus over another, it would be interesting to know exactly what makes you think that it is better than the others. Were tests run with a number of live viruses and one AV program found more than another? What criteria was used for your decision?

"Cool, now I can say that I've met someone who thinks that he knows better!"In the future, Edam, when you get one of those wild thoughts that you're actually contributing something useful remind yourself of the definition of "expert"... an "ex" is a has been, and a spurt is nothing more than a drip under pressure. You're too immature to be a has-been, but you certainly need to work on the drip-under-pressure part.

And I would suggest that YOU examine the two previous sarcastic responses that you made to upsvac with the same thing in mind, if you get my drift, "Mr. Maturity." Now THERE are some "wild thoughts that you're actually contributing something." Now you may have the last word on that, which I'm sure that you so desperately want. Pretty mature of me to let you, huh?

"Pretty mature of me to let you, huh?"Yep, pretty mature. Also mature of you to make suppositions just so you can mess up a thread that some might find useful. But hey, if it gives you some kind of power trip, then whatever floats your boat.

The most up to date virus scanner can not possibly be expected to prevent the virus that just came out an hour ago. Anti virus manufacturers are re-active even if their claims of being heuristically superior are taken at face value.The anti-virus program that did the best yesterday in a face-off against all the other competitors may fail within the next day or hour when the next iteration of a new attack occurs.Instead of putting complete faith in the "Best Anti-virus Award", one is better off practicing safe hex, along with using any reputable anti-virus program with attention to up dates .And 2-way firewalls and routers need to be in the equation. Anti-virus programs are best at just that: countering viruses that have already entered the PC. They should not be considered as first and only defence against all threats since they are weak with respect to worms, trojans and other unsolicited material encountered on the WWW.

"As for the people who have chosen one anti-virus over another, it would be interesting to know exactly what makes you think that it is better than the others. Were tests run with a number of live viruses and one AV program found more than another? What criteria was used for your decision? "I was recommended Sophos by my sis's boyfriend, who works in computer support in a well known building in London.It was by chance I came across the PC Pro mag. with the tables. I was just passing through so didn't read it fully, only browsed at the tables and charts, which showed Sophos come out top or near top on each one (and NAV at the bottom I may add).I'm basically glad I use Sophos. :)