[Minn]

reach around behind and UNPLUG from the internet, then turn off those protections and reboot. Do not replug until you have your firewall and virus protection back in place.

Then tonight, before you to bed, be sure to check the lock on each door and window in your house at least 10 times. And whatever you do, don't go near any vehicle; especially cars, trucks, boats, trains or planes. You just never know.

Seriously, disabling protective software for a short time while you investigate performance issues is highly unlikely to get you infected. It may allow currently existing malware to phone home, but if the malware was already able to get itself installed, and is responsible for your current problem, your protective software isn't worth much anyway. Anti-virus software and firewalls aren't the best way to keep your computer infection free. Keeping kids away from your computer is.

[mmichaels1970]

It may allow currently existing malware to phone home, but if the malware was already able to get itself installed, and is responsible for your current problem, your protective software isn't worth much anyway.

Minn might be on to something there. You mentioned that your computer crashed, the geeks determined your mobo was fried, and replaced it. What if your computer actually crashed due to some malware that was just replicating and replicating?

Maybe the replacement was enough to get things going again, but you may still have some malware issues that weren't cured. I've also seen two different problems occur that appear to be unrelated.

I'd say it would be worth a shot, in any case. Download the anti-malware tool from malwarebytes.org and do a quick scan on your system. See if it comes up with anything.

[the_Watchman]

Make fun if you want, but please unplug if you want to be safe. Two years ago I was rebuilding my father-in-laws XP system. The installation disk came with SP1, but SP2 wasn’t in place. I thought I’d go ahead and download SP2 before I got the virus software in place. It took all of 45 minutes for a worm to infect the beast. I had to wipe the drive and reinstall.

Take a look at your router history some time. There are probes from the wild internet CONSTANTLY. I run a web site and I have to monitor the logs. I only allow SSL input authenticated by WEBAUTH/Kerberos. (I also beat on my user base about the strength of their passwords.) Most probes are somewhat benign, but many are looking for specific weaknesses. Why take a chance when unplugging is so easy?

[ConservativeMind]

That is only true if you have a router acting as a firewall that you plug into for the internet.

Otherwise, you will be pwned in under ten minutes.