"Who said anything about a slowed computer? "

Read the 8th word of the first post?

*"you had made it sound like the cure to all ills and a good general maintenace practice was to re-install Windows."

I never said don't invest in regular maintenance practice, but without you're experience to speak of let me assure you that, yes, the be all end all to way to destroy Virus' is to destroy Windows.  Luckily the ROM gods were kind enough to lend us their re-readable media; so the necessity of ever having Windows Install files to begin with is never as difficult to invoke as the first time you used them.  However; that does'nt, nescesarily, mean you'll never use them again.