Unplug all cables from computer. Place in cupboard. Job done. :E

If only! :D

Running a different browser mightn't be a bad idea either. Owing to others on the home network I run Norton (cheap 3 pc deal <£20) and when that expires then whatever is cheap (but NEVER McAfee as I hate the adverts and tricky auto renewal, and I am just prejudiced against them from past experiences, and ZA hates too many programs).

If it wasn't for these others on the network, I would take the free route too.

You don't come here often, do you Stu?

The browser option is an interesting one. What tends to happen with browsers is the relatively unknown ones are the least susceptible to malware so when everyone cottons onto this they sing its praises, everyone jumps on the bandwagon and IE gets called. But then as it becomes more and more popular, the malware authors take note and write malware/exploits targeting the new browser. In the end it turns out not much better than the browser it was designed to compete with, as is the case with Mozilla Firefox versus IE.

In my experience you are OK with pretty much any modern browser provided it is regularly updated and patched. It is what you do with it what matters.

Me, I am a fan of both IE9 and Google Chrome.

I would say that summarises things nicely. Layered security. Keep your computer up to date, don't run as admin user, preferably use a seperate hardware firewall, and keep your wits about you and your average user should be safe from many threats.

Unfortunatley too many people frequently forget to take care of the weakest element, the user. :E

The Time came..
 

All done and dusted, easy-peasy.
I note that a full daily scheduled scan takes 2-1/4 hours for 660K items, including my two external HD's, but since it doesn't appear to slow anything down whilst it is running I'm not bothered.
Strangely enough I noticed one side effect which relects on Green Granite's post about program hanging on shutdown - previously when shutting down I would get past 'saving your settings' when a splash screen would pop up for SuperAntiSpyware - 'ending program' and the blue blocks scrolling all the way across and pausing until 'this program is not responding - End Now or cancel' An End Now would terminate it and the shut-down would complete.
Since removing McAfee and installing MSE, on shutdown the same splash screen pops up and after scrolling three blocks it disappears of its own accord and PC shuts down.
Thanks to all for the advice and comments.
DD

Immunet is worth a look - Antivirus, Antivirus Software, Free Anti Virus Download-Immunet Real Time Antivirus

Free to detect malware, subscription required for rootkit removal, will co-exist alongside other AV solutions.

And avoid IE like the plague, use FF with NoScript / FlashBlock, or Chrome with similar.

Disclaimer - I work for the firm which owns Immunet, but as I have a Mac I don't use the product :)

I've had Malwarebytes require reregistering to renew my free copy but this week their notice doesn't appear to have a "free" option. It appears to have worked well but I noticed the praises of "Norman" being sung with a suggestion that it had worked even better than Malwarebytes..... I would welcome advice from those more erudite than myself on Norman as a replacement.

Thank you for that, NotGettingAnyYounger. I've had the quickest of looks and will investigate further when I get a chance. I have to say it's from a company I've never heard of (not that that's too hard!) and I'm not looking to replace any more than Malwarebytes in manual mode, being very happy with Avast and the assorted other stuff which I use. I will be interested to see what support it garners from the PPRuNe think tank!

Comodo's stuff tends to oscillate between excellent and useless. Unfortunately, it tends to oscillate between upgrades of the same product. I've tried very hard to like Comodo over the years, but I no longer use nor recommend the products: I think QA is almost non-existent.

Oops! Well, has anybody else had Malwarebytes go all commercial on them and is there anything to be said about Norman - or any other on demand replacement malware-buster?

In the absence of any comment on Norman, I visited their website and tried to download the program but, for me at least, the website didn't work and, click as I may, no download was forthcoming. It was BOAC who favoured Norman but my experience does not support his confidence. All (well, nearly all!) comments will be welcomed.