Have been talking to Ken about an earlier problem but he had to close out because it seemed there was no malware issue - - now it looks as if there may be one after all. I hope it's okay to post again in this forum, as the problem is now on a brand new setup than when I started with Ken, who was VERY helpful by the way. (If Ken is here, please let me know if you are familiar with this virus or have any suggestions.) Last week I brought home a beautiful new Dell Inspiron. After the setup, I uninstalled the pre-installed Norton's trial, as I have a Zone Alarm subscription. But the machine didn't have SP1 on it - - and Zone Alarm wouldn't install without it, so I installed free AVG to protect the unit until Zone Alarm could be installed. Tried to update to SP1 but there was a conflict with a device driver (don't know which one - - the Microsoft website had advised updating all drivers before installing SP1, which I did from the Dell website). SP1 wouldn't install. Dell sent me to Microsoft. A Microsoft agent took remote access, shut down all running processes and uninstalled Java and AVG - - then he was able to download and install SP1 and update it. He then ran a diagnostic and said all was fine. (However, since he had uninstalled AVG, there was no AV on the machine for the couple of hours it took to download and setup SP1.) After the setup, I then installed Zone Alarm, updated it and it ran an initial scan. It found this virus in the Zone Alarm folder and deleted it. However, the machine wasn't behaving right (too slow for a new machine, hanging up, the mouse dragging sometimes, and some web pages wouldn't load and nothing would download [had tried to download the newest versions of Java and Adobe Flash Player]). Ken, from this forum, checked a HiJackThis log and nothing ugly showed up. Then the computer started crashing to the blue screen every few hours. I didn't know if the virus had done this or the conflict remained. Monday, a Dell tech took remote access and reformatted the drive and restored it to the factory settings, then downloaded and installed SP1. This process took over 5 hours. All these hours, the machine had been online (on remote access with him) and no AV. So, after he disconnected, I installed Zone Alarm again, updated it and it ran the initial scan. The exact same virus was back on the machine, this time in the AverMedia folder. Zone Alarm quarantined the virus. However, the machine is behaving exactly as it did before it started crashing after the first setup. This is Tuesday afternoon, and so far it hasn't crashed yet, though. Still can't download Adobe Flash Player - - it says it doesn't have have a program that will work with my platform or browser; however, this is Vista and this is Firefox and I'm certain Flash Player works with both of them. After the reformat and recovery, the clock was reading the correct time for a couple of hours and then jumped back an hour - - don't know if that means anything. Also, the desktop theme has changed by itself a couple of times. And when I go to my email, it jumps to http and won't load until I manually type in the "s" after http. The Dell tech obviously doesn't know much about AV and viruses - - I had told him about having the virus after the Microsoft tech had left the AV off the first time. But still, neither of us knew if the problem was a virus or a conflict. He was very helpful and Dell tech support seems really good. He thought everything would be all right after the process. Hoping not to have to have the machine reformatted, setup, updated to SP1, etc. a third time, I decided to try a new post here before contacting Dell again. Is it somehow possible this virus downloaded with SP1 both times? Does anyone know anything about this virus or have any suggestions or input? Is it possible it's still affecting the unit even after Zone Alarm deleted it? Just don't know what to do as obviously this can't go on and on and I'm hoping not to have to return the machine, especially because the unit was an exchange for a Gateway I'd purchased that was defective right out of the box. How likely is it someone would bring home TWO brand new computers in a row and neither of the them work right? It feels as if I've fallen into cyber twilight zone! Thanks, Sharon Dell Inspiron 1721 3 GB Ram 250 GB Hard Drive 1.9 GHz Athlon Dual Core Processor UPDATE: IT'S NOW ABOUT 3 1/2 HOURS LATER, AND THE SYSTEM HAS JUST CRASHED TO THE BLUE SCREEN AGAIN, EXACTLY AS ON THE FIRST SETUP.