Fortunately, a week before the incident, I had installed MalWarebytes ANTImalware, otherwise I would have been unable to do since the malware rendered the keyboard useless.

Unlike AVG (free version) Malwarebytes detected/eradicated the threat

Nothing is perfect, but being netter then Microsoft at security isn't very difficult.

plus Bruce,

its not the OS makers fault for spy/scare/malware attacks really, the developers of said ware filesm are just exploiting the security holes in the OS, but if you were to make an OS yourself could you honestly say you would make it impervious to attack?

If the bank vault makers make vaults that default to letting anyone in without any effort, then the bank vault maker is the one who is at fault.

But more importantly the fault also lies with the people who would by choice use such a system and then have the audacity to actually complain when others simply walk in, take what they want, and walk out.

I believe Ronco could do a better job if they set their minds to it lol

The best advice is for people to follow on XP is to avoid connecting to the Internet until SP3 is installed, along with your anti-virus software and to set up a limited user account before connecting to the Internet. If your hardware supports it and you have no specific reason to stick with XP, it may be cheaper in the long run to move to Vista instead of buying all these different anti-malware solutions.