In my 20+ years of computing, most viruses I caught were from friends or relatives. They didn't give me the viruses on purpose. They were just not careful. This most recent virus does its dirty work without the knowledge of the sender. The virus looks through an address book and starts sending emails to people on the address book. The computer owner doesn't need to be there, and may not even see the virus doing its dirty work. Yes, I recommend keeping your antivirus program on duty all the time and doing regular updates. There is one exception: When you install software, the antivirus program thinks the installation is an attack. The antivirus program fights that installation/attack. Some people's computers have been massively screwed up because of this problem. Believe me I've helped countless people who had this same problem. That's why many software installations will tell you to disable the antivirus program for the software install. You should only be installing software from people you trust. That follows that you shouldn't worry about a virus. You can always do a virus scan on the software first before installing, then disable your antivirus program. If you're upgrading to Windows XP, your antivirus program probably needs to be replaced anyway. So go ahead and uninstall it first. Antivirus programs and utility programs like Norton Systemworks work very closely with your operating system. That's why a new version, rather than an upgrade, is essential. The software companies are not ripping you off. They need to make a new version, and someone needs to pay for their labor, etc. I currently run Norton SystemWorks 2002 and Norton Internet Security 2002. I've used Norton products since 1995, and they've never failed me once. I've tried other antivirus programs or firewalls, even popular free ones. They've let me down. We'll save those stories for another time. Ron