I just got a laptop that is about a year old (lenovo thinkpad t61). good processor/RAM, runs windows XP professional.

I'm trying to make the thing secure. First thing I did was download Firefox and make it my default browser.

However...
Every once in awhile (1-2 times/day) Internet explorer tries to open a window with ads. I downloaded AVG free edition and ran a scan. It found some problems and said that it fixed them. Now, IE opens that warning window that pops up when you use IE for the first time, something about "viewing pages on the internet might not be secure, do you wish to continue?". If I click "no", nothing happens. If I click "yes", nothing happens.

Its really just annoying.

I guess my question is, should I spend the $50 + to upgrade AVG to the internet security suite, or get something else?

Sorry if this is a dumb question, I'm pretty new at this and trying to learn!

thanks for the help!

-Chemed

First I would run a scan with SUPERAntiSpyware from Safe Mode
How to start Windows in Safe Mode
Use the free Home version. See what it finds and quarantine them. It may be just that you need to supplement your protection,since no one item does get it all.

I ended up just running AVG 7.5 with AdAware and everything seems to be running just fine. No more issues.
I used what it found and went to registry to clean them out for good.

thanks!

-chemed