this may be an unwelcome response but you should seriously consider dual-booting with Ubuntu 10.04.

It is very user friendly, has a Windows feel to it, quick learning curve, and anti-virus is totally unnecessary. you can dual boot with nearly any windows system, and even after Windows becomes unstable, you still have Ubuntu functioning as a back up.

The only downside i have found is that it is tough to play games on it. and MS software wont work without an emulator like WINE.

i wish i could find the english commentary streamed online somewhere. I live in Thailand and the satellite provider didn't pay for the rights to air the English commentary, only Thai. Which makes sense because there are 70 million Thais here and only about 200,000 expats.

If anyone knows where i can find something like that it would be greatly appreciated.

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sojioguns:

@ Dual Core. Have you experienced this new virus/worm that attacks folders by hiding the original folders and creating .exe files and disguising them as folders so you can easily double-click the apps thinking they are the folders.
HELP ME!!!

I am familiar with this one, common case with users in my net cafe. Getting the stuff back isn't too difficult. First enable "show hidden files" then copy all the hidden files you are looking for (not the fake .exe ones) i have been unable to unhide or change the read only state of folders, only of the individual files inside the folders

paste them to a new location, preferably not on the stick, then select all and change the properties away from "hidden" - NOTE for some reason you are unable to change the attribute of the files on the stick to be unhidden, and the read only state will reset itself.

Then once all your files are out (confirm they are) i would suggest you format your drive and then make those two files (autorun.inf and auto.exe) and also change the folder properties to make them both read only. if you do not, a virus can simply over write the the folders with a malicious one.

You can skip all of this if you have access to an ubuntu box, which ignores the malicious script that forces read only and hidden.

Hope that makes sense