OTL fails to run

My OTL.exe never ran. Is cleanup still appropriate? All other tools have been removed. I read your ALORTKYCC from another post. Using a limited instead of administrator account is great advice. I take it you recommend removing Avira, but which of the three Panda, Ad-Aware, Avast do you prefer?

Finally, you don't like Advanced Systmems Care because it doesn't do more than common sense. Isn't that some help to us novices? What would you recommend as an alternative?

I am very pleased with this service and will be donating as a result.

If OTL never ran, you can just delete it.

Avira is a fine antivirus. I just know that it incorporated some dubious toolbars into its software and I hate that. I don´t know the current status about that though. If you keep Avira, that is fine. If you change it for either of the three other products, that is equally fine. Don´t waste too much time on choice of AV, it is only one of the many security measures you should take.

The best system care is
- Run MBAM once/month
- Clean up temporary files + defrag once/month
- Look at running programs (task manager) and make sure that every process that is running actually benefits you. If you come across a process you don´t know, you have a very good friend in Google.

If you are pleased, I am pleased

I am pleased, but I spoke too soon about program file shortcuts returning.
The program folders appear on the startup menu, but when I move the curser over the folder icons, most but not all of the shortcuts are empty. For example, under Accessories I have a Communcations sub-folder, but it is empty. Games, Microsoft Office, Real, Skype, Startup are all empty. Do I have to add these back manually?

I am afraid so

You can uninstall/reinstall programs to get shortcuts back or look them up in the program folder, create a shortcut and drag it to the start menu.

A trick you can use for Windows standard menu items is to create a new account (USERNAME) on your computer, which will create the original start menu in the "C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Start Menu" folder.

With an admin account you can copy&paste the contents into your own account Start Menu folder.

But yeah, it will require some work to build it up again. GL with it.

I can do this since I will be creating the new account anyway to avoid malware and for my daughter's use. Many thanks again.