So I’ve been pretty non-existent on the ol’ webbernet lately, mainly because last week while I was on the phone with my mom I was also trying to download some music (*cough* illegally *cough*) off of a website I probably should have known better to not go on and instead I downloaded a massive virus. This little trojan bastard dug its way into all sorts of programs, causing a big ol’ mess, and I wasted days trying to pull these worms out of my computer using the traditional free anti-malware programs I was used to using. (It should be noted that this has become standard operating procedure as of late, as I’ve been averaging infection about once a week for the last month or so.)

So right around the same time swine flu hit, my computer got its own swine flu. I did everything I knew to get it out and nothing worked. So I went and did what I should have done in the first place, which is pay for anti-virus software. I went out and bought Kaspersky, which led to its own stupid installation problems that I won’t bore you with. Once I got that downloaded and ran my first full scan, EUREKA! It pulled all sorts of things out of my computer I didn’t know were in there.

Unfortunately, it turns out that it pulled out some things that it probably shouldn’t have. Mainly, the registry keys for my DVD/CD drives. I spent FOUR HOURS on the phone with Dell this afternoon as they poked and prodded just about every part of my computer that they could to try and get it to work. They failed. My only satisfaction came from the fact that I had already tried just about everything that they had, so at least I didn’t have to pay for something I could have just as easily done myself.

So now I’m at a crossroads. I’ve already dumped close to $300 into this laptop, which it should be noted I bought back in 2003. It’s had a nice full life, but I don’t exactly have an excess of funds at the moment. I kinda wanted to avoid this, but it looks like I have to buy a new computer.

Anybody have any favorite brands or hot tips?