I just read an article about a lady whose computer was deluged by adware. It was such a problem that she spent thousands of dollars on computer repair fees to try to clean up her computer. The said thing is that she could have restored her computer by herself in less than a few hours and for free.
Somewhere down the line, there will be problems with your computer (adware, spyware, viruses, good software gone bad, etc,). Obviously, you should use protection software to prevent as much as possible. However, you will most likely eventually find yourself in a mess. Relax! Don’t worry.
Don’t spend thousands of dollars on a computer guy to fix your computer if it breaks down. The first rule of thumb is, dont spend more than $300, which would buy you a new computer today. But don’t throw away your computer yet — there is another solution.
If you are unable to access programs like MS Office and Quicken you may have a hardware problem, or your data may be so corrupted that you may have to call in a computer expert to get to it and he may not be able to access it in a cost effective way. Decide ahead of time how much your data is worth to you...