Thanks for replying Tyger.
I am not so savvy with computers so bear with me.
I stopped the constant updates from Windows because they were taking up waaaay too much space. As for IE, I haven't updated manually for quite some time and I don't know if this is happening automatically or not. I doubt that it is. Both Windows and Norton took up so much space on my computer (they were eating it up) that an extra drive was added to my computer and the drives were partitioned (programs on one, my work on another).
What does 'Jave runtime environment mean'? LOL I recently updated Java. An icon shows up in my toolbar once in a while and I then update, but it doesn't seem to always work. It has been a while so the details are foggy. Okay. I checked and I have the latest update which was on 5/5/08. I have Java Platform Standard Edition 6 Version 6 Update 5 (build 1.6.0_05-b-13).
I checked in the advanced tab and I would like to know which category I should be looking at.
Under the category 'Microsoft VM' the 'Java console enabled' option has not been selected.
I am not sure if I currently have a Firewall! At some point I had zone alarm, the Windows Firewall, and Norton. The latest edition of Norton so messed up my computer, Norton had to go. Okay, I have Windows Firewall and it is currently set to on. Windows Firewall- what should I be looking for and where?
What I do have in terms of anti-virus and anti-spyware: SpyBotSD 1.4, Ad-Aware 2007, and AVG 7.5. Okay, I cannot remember how to check for the settings and what to look for.