2 Qs - suspicious activity, and going wireless

Luis

1) Busy dotting round the internet today, when Nortons flashed up and told me it had detected and removed a virus (fair play to it)

Since then, I have noticed that my laptop is regularly (every minute or so) whirring for a second or 2 as if it is doing something. It wasn't doing this before. I have tried CTRL, ALT, DEL to see what processes are running, but it won't open that screen. What is going on?

2) Want to go wireless on my ADSL internet connection. How do I do this? My laptop is not wireless enabled, and I am sick of cables everywhere, and the dog disconnecting me from the internet when she trips over a cable lol.

Hope someone can help.

wolfman

1) Hmmm, make sure Norton is up to date and to a full system scan just to be sure. Also do a full sweep for any spyware using an anti-spyware application.

2) Ok, how do you currently connect? Via an ADSL modem? If so does it have an ethernet port?

If you do have a modem with ethernet port, you could just buy a wireless router. For such a setup I'd recommend the KCorp KLG-575. It's £36 on Amazon (bargain!) and has won quite a few awards. Strange scenario with it though, KCorp are discontinuing the range and not offering technical support. I don't think you'll ever need it though, mine was easy to setup and hasn't caused a single problem. For me, it's brilliant as I never have to touch it, it just always works.

If you have a modem with a usb input (instead of ethernet) or similar setup, you could buy a wireless router with inbuilt modem. There are numerous options that'll probably cost around £60-80.

You then just need to buy a wireless card for your laptop (if it has space for a card). Alternatively you could get a USB wireless adapter. It's basically a little dongle that plugs into the usb port on your laptop and provides you with wireless connectivity.

On a side note. For the above products, after my bad experience with Netgear, I'm no longer recommending them. I've got the DG834GT router/modem and WG111T usb dongle. I've tried all the possible firmware/settings/setups and they still prove problematic (dropping connectivity, lockups etc...), hence I'm going to try and get a refund. If you do consider getting a Netgear, look on their forums first just to get an idea of the common problems.