[sep34]

Guys
I fixed the problem the next day after, 01/04/10, by reformatting and then running a good antivirus software to make sure nothing remained....No big deal, because like I mentioned in my OP, that it was a PC that I use only for browsing the internet.

So instead of thanking all of you individualy, I will take care of it here with one big Thanks to all that tryed to help.

[BlowFish]

Actually thats not a bad solution Sep34. I simply make sure I have important data on an external drive and in the cloud and if disaster falls i whip out the install discs. I am a great advocate of a clean start now and then.

[TIKITRADER]

I use this model.

It is an internal hot swappable hard drive enclosure.
You can have as many hard drives as you want. One dedicated just for trading, one for general use.
Install two of these, and you can have one for swapping OS and one for swapping data drives.
Keep the trading drive clean.

[bootstrap]

i know that i am late to this party, but if you get hit with netsky or any other virus you cant get rid of shoot me a note. no charge so dont worry about this being spam.

from my other biznes got a hacker on the payroll and not a virus he cant get rid of. may take some work on your part but usually doesnt require a re-format.

three keys for the windows guys.

keep winders updated..download ccleaner and malware bytes...everytime you close the browser,run malware then cc and you will stay clean.

and keep both updated.

[minoo]

This may help
I have dedicated trade machines both for Charting (tradestation) and Executions (Platforms)
And seperate one for email, consulting, studies, research, etc
If you are Not running the Virus Protection actively to conserve CPU and Memory
This tip may help, further conserve your system resources

I understand that the MS Operating system comes preloaded with the Unnecessary
Components Services Interfaces and Protocols (CSIPs) it uses your valuable resources, makes your machine noisy (broadcasts) and compromises your environment (unsecure ports)
So your security software needs to work actively more & use valuable resources to protect the pre-loaded & pre-bundled unnecessary CSIPs
I have so far found that XP (Home Ver) uses the least of the resources to load 32bit trading apps & I only use XP for all my trading purpose

Once you have invoked your usual application/s for trading

Tip: Kill the skin of the OS (ie explorer.exe)
Invoke Task manager (Shift + Ctrl + Esc)
Click on Processes tab > Select explorer.exe > Click End Process

If you want the skin back on
Invoke Task Manager again
Click on Applications > Click New Task >
Type at the prompt Open: explorer.exe
Press Enter (It may take some time to load)

Note you can even shut down straight from Task Manager
You can use the Performance Tab to further check out your system stats improvement etc
If you have voice packets (internet radio, live squawk, etc) streaming down to your trade PC than be aware they will be priortise over other traffic

Hope this helps

Enjoy Minoo

[maxima]

or finally get yourself Windows 7 and forget all this BS.

I dont use antivirus for about 6 years and had 2 or 3 minor trojans sniked through the dodgy website in those 6 years. But I used Vista and W7 all the time.

Dont make your life more difficult than it is already