Expert: Carolyn Meinel - 1/5/2010

Question
    Hi.  I'm Kyel and I recently got a new laptop for Christmas.  Well, today I was watching a DVD on it, and i got a pop-up that says my computer is infected.  I'm thinking "What the hell!?"  So I click it to scan for other viruses...it says I have 42 viruses, spyware, adware, backdoors, trojans, rouges, worms, etc.  I didn't even know some of those existed.  Anyway, I can't remove the threats until I purchase the full program package for like $60 or something like that.
    I have an antivirus software.  The laptop came with a 30 day trial of Norton Antivirus, and I still have 21 days left or so.  I read that Norton is supposed to be one of the best antiviruses available.  Either Norton isn't good at all, or this pop-up is fake.  I did a full system scan using Norton, and it found no threats or anything.
    I need advice on wether or not I should be trusting this pop-up, or should I believe Norton and not worry about it at all?  I know I should defragment my hardrive, and other maintenance...however that is done.  Anyway, I look forward to hearing from you.  Thanks.

Answer
You were wise to be suspicious of the popup. This is a spyware program, which Norton antivirus doesn't protect you against. Norton has another product which includes anti-spyware protection. I advise you to either buy the full Norton Internet Security product, or else uninstall Norton and try another Internet security suite. If you would like something with a good reputation that offers a free trial period, Kapersky Internet Security, offers a free 30 day trial at http://kapersky.com or F-Secure's Complete Internet security suite, which offers a free thirty day trial: https://store.f-secure.com/cgi-bin/dlreg/ml=EN?ID=FSISTB&desid=TRIAL