you really don't have to have any but if you worry about sending something infected to a windows friend or even to your windows from linux you can add one for that. That is about the only reason those with linux add an AV.
Most distros do come with Clam AV if it is not preloaded you can easily get it by use of your package management like synaptic just go to the repositories and look for Clam AV, most also come with Guarddog which is a firewall. Look through your applications you may already have them.
I believe there is now also an AVAST linux version
avast! Linux/Unix Edition
never tried it. I do have Clam on most of my linux boxes but really do not bother with it. I do activate guard dog.

What linux distro are you using? I much prefer KDE desktop management than Gnome, I find it more windows like and easier for new users to adapt.

Thanks, Ravencajun. I'll follow up with Clam AV and Guarddog; haven't checked yet to see if they're already loaded but will when I get time.

The box is KDE- I like it a lot. Very straightforward, also attractive. I just started using it yesterday and already feel at home with it, and wife has dipped into it a little too. I have some tweaking to do on Firefox when I get around to it, but no rush.

Always a pleasure hearing from you.

Thanks,

Mark

I'm not knocking your choice, but I'm a little surprised by it. Was the problem of the failed Win 7 update not worth solving? Did you consider a dual-boot instead of the emulator (which I assume is WINE)?

KDE is the graphic desktop environment (as opposed to GNOME or other options). We still don't know which distro you are using.

I've used ClamAV but can't say of my own knowledge if its useful or not. Its never found anything noteworthy but I wouldn't expect it to since I make every effort to avoid virus-malware problems. It is slow and reviews I have read on it were mediocre at best. I tried Avast for Linux for a few weeks but then uninstalled it. After a few scans it failed to update and I decided not to bother with it. I think it may have had a conflict with Ubuntu, but not sure of that. I suppose I would try it again if there was a need to.

It's Ubuntu. As you can tell I'm pretty ignorant on these matters, so I told the tech what was up and that I'd be happy with any good solution that left my computer usable. I thought he'd probably do a dual boot system, but he did this instead and told me that if I didn't like it he'd change it.

The emulator is Oracle's Virtual Machine for Windows XP. I loaded it once to see how it worked and once to show my wife, and haven't gone back since.

By the way, do I need CCleaner, Spywareblaster, and Malwarebites on this system? Or will the firewall cover me on that?

I do have Kaspersky loaded on the other machine and I think I could still put it on this one, don't know for sure.

Thanks for your comments.

Mark

If you are going to use XP in the VM, then having CCleaner and the others wouldn't hurt. After all they are free. Since it sounds like your use of XP is going to be infrequent, you'll have to remember to update them each time you use them. It's good that you have a tech who's knowledgeable enough to do what he did. I didn't know anything about a VM and probably wouldn't have considered one for my own use. The dual-boot works fine for me. I hope the VM works fine for you.

As I recall, support for XP ends in 2014. That may or may not matter to you, but that's why I was wondering why you (or the tech) chose to use an older OS instead of solving the Win 7 problem.

if it uses KDE then it would have to be Kubuntu, because Ubuntu uses Gnome. There are some very good Ubuntu based forums available should you have problems, they can be very helpful.

I suspect he went with the XP because he had it and didn't think it would matter to me once he got me hooked on this system.

I've tried to find what made me think it was KDE - I think I found it while I was nosing around trying to answer Ravencajun. The browser is Firefox and when I click on home it displays the Ubuntu logo, which is identical to my "Start" button. And the software kit includes lots of stuff for KDE. I'll have to call and ask the guy for a little education.

Thanks again to all for the help!

:-)M