ANYbody who does ANYthing on the net needs to learn a few things about security, or a least have some sort of system administrator to worry about it for you (an admin will insist on you following a few rules anyway).
this is even more true when you are sharing files. when u share on a Peer2peer network u have no assurance that ANY file is what it claims to be, and u have no idea where the file came from. please dont get me wrong i love gnutella/limewire and i couldn't live w/o it (well almost) but....personally i don't use the LW player and i never open/use any shared (d/l) file until i have scanned it w/my AV.
if u bought ur system w/prepackaged software u probably have an AV already and maybe even a software firewall, learn how to use em and MAKE SURE U UPDATEUPDATEUPDATE.
if ur not protected do a google search for ZoneAlarm (the basic version is free) and AVGfree by GRISOFT (it is too) and join the AVG forum, the sticky threads will give u excellent advice about what else to get (MORE FREE STUFF). u will end up with as tight a system as any reasonable dollar figure can get u... but no software can save u if u dont LEARN it and USE it
someday...someday soon...'''dreaming of links in his sig'''...