Then, the next time I tried to run an application that used Java, I found I didn't have Java any more and had to download it all over again. The absence of that one file doesn't explain much; with Java reinstalled and working normally, no file like that is back on the system. It sounds as if Avast! may be doing more stuff to my system than it's admitting to.

In a scan about a week ago, Avast! identified one of the files in my old Netscape (4.5) folder as adware and moved it to a secure place. That file was timestamped 8/31/98, had apparently been on one or another of my computers for over 10 years (mostly unused for the last 5), and would have been scanned hundreds of times by AVG and Spybot S&D and several times previously by Avast! I'm not too worried about getting that Netscape disabled since I only use it occasionally for accessing e-mails from five to ten years ago.

I'm planning to keep Avast! on a short leash.