just had to reformat my computer three times in two days and i could not go on the net tell i had all of the software installed.

4 days of hell..

if you are a XP user get your updates ;P

There are a few things you all can do to protect or at least check your PC.
There are 2 online virus scanners that I would reccomend:
First is Trend Micro which we use in a corprate campus environment:
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/housecall/start_corp.asp

next is Panda I like this one because you can disable the internet and it will keep scanning:
http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan/

ALSO make sure you run spyware checkers at LEAST once a week
I run SPYBOT and clean and then run ADAWARE. They are two separate programs that search for spyware.

SPYBOT:
http://www.download.com/3000-2144-10122137.html?part=104443&subj=dlpage&tag=button

ADAWARE:
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/

Also a router with built in firewall is best.

Thanks Coot