Thats interesting. my oul fellah has ran Norton for years on the home PCs and we've never had a problem with it like that, never even heard of that happening before... what causes them to do that?

If you have 2 partitions copy c:/program files/steam on the partition (d:/ for example or burn it on two dvds)  you wont format. Format, install steam but dont launch it. Recopy the steam from d:/ to c:/program files and you wont have to download the whole 7gb shyt again. Dont install windows updates it will eat bandwitch for nothing. If you want a good antivirus/firewall try zone alarm internet security suite.

Hahahaha, So True.

I Still have not managed to get rid off the Browser Add-Ons, I did everything you said Hax.Sam.Hall

And Georgy, Thats a good idea, When I need to reformat, I will do that, Should Work. I wouldn't expect the viruses to be in the Steam folder.

I used to be blind and update everything... 350 ram only to run windows and it was so slow. Since that time i installed windows about 40 times and came up with these tricks to get more performance. Windows xp sp2, disable windows updates, firewall and defender, install tune up utilities 2006 and XpLite to remove trash and zone alarm internet security suite. Now windows uses 330 ram with msn, firefox and steam running. The only thing you need from windows is .net framework 1.1, 2 and directx (can be downloaded without windows update). Get winamp instead of media player and download windows codec pack. If you dont have office or dont want to download it try open office its only 120 mb.

So this setup is:
open office - 120 mb
zone alarm internet security suite - 30 mb
directx, .net framework 1 and 2 - 100 mb
other shyts (winrar, firefox, acrobat reader, msn, steam, winamp, codec pack) - lets say 200 mb

total: 450 mb

I dont blame anyone to use windows updates but i know its garbage because i tested it and live without it for 2 years. You can compare it with dell and hp computers delivered with windows already installed. They have alot of shyt like power management, support, keyboard and mouse things, useless toolbars and all these things running that you never use but eat ressources. Look at the system tray:



I bet it takes him 2 minutes of loading before he can click on anything.

So install things only if you need it and only if you know why you need it.

Georgy is Right, I usaually only have three programs running in System Tray, XFire, Steam and Windows Messenger.

The Virus is now causing explorer to use up 200MB+ of RAM on its own, and when Windows Explorer is running, It causes Internet Explorer to lag out really badly.

Wow nice insult to all those guys who have a life and dont spend all teir money on ram, graphic cards and magic the gathering cards. Btw i have 1gb and i will get the maximum performance i can get. When i'll finish to study of course i will buy the brand new shyts and come on forums to tell people dont listen to georgy's crap and install all kind of shyts that you dont know about and that will slow your computer! I'l also buy magic the gathering cards and dress like matrix.

I think an antivirus/spyware can do the job since the only way to get infected is to go on malicious websites or download and run anything. I used to do certain security updates when i could do it but i'm using copied windows so... I dont say its bad to do it but i want people to be aware of what they do and dont  just run the updates like grandma does. You seem to know what you are talking about so its good for you but lets go back on the thread goal. He has to save bandwitch and i know by experience he can skip windows updates. I use zone alarm internet security suite and it will warn me before i run anything that can be malicious. Thats my "purist" opinion

p.s. matrix and magics is a prejudice i have about people in computer sciences that dress like matrix, play magics and fakin ruin our reputation