Stew,
I use AVG's free virus software on one machine and Avira's free software on another. Both seem to work just fine and update on a daily basis to make sure you stay current.
Another free program is PC Tools Spyware Doctor. Great program for cleaning out adware and spyware. Another great FREE program... uh wait, did I mention I was cheap?
Hope you are able to get your files back.... I had two machines (one laptop and one desktop) crash in one way or another this year. Installed a new hard drive on the laptop but nothing was recoverable from the old and by desktop had a slight uh, fire problem, well more like lots of smoke and sizziling. Verdict is still out on wether or not I am going to get my files back from it.... that was the big ouchie, I had about 15 gigs worth of pictures on it that I cannot replace.
