techbaby/newbie..nasty auto-message in write email Wordpad +cable protection

I needed to email info in Wordpad. When I clicked "send to", & the email box popped up, I found it had pre-generated text, (nasty), in the text box with a clickable address...which I did Not click on.
This didn't show up when I looked at WORD, or my earthlink email.
Norton did not catch this, & would Not do an Liveupdate...I went to symantec & did the update there. running the virus-check there showed Nothing...adaware found nothing.
Spybot was suggested, I downloaded & removed everything it suggested, which was not very much... message persists...

Now I must confess to not having SP2, when it 1st came out I was hearing "crashes" & decided to wait. illness prevented me thereafter.
Now I am told that to install sp2 my machine should perfectly clean, that the bugs are where the crash problems come in.

At this moment, Comcast cable is being installed, so my underprotected machine is going to be On 24/7.
So please, would someone help me with a
1,
2,
3, plan of action?
I would like to do the forum clean up protocol, but it does include addding SP2.

My questions are: should I do this last, after the clean?
or do it anyway, & hope for the best?

Re: start in Safemode, how far into the logon should you hit f8? the ms bluescreen? or wait...I'm going to be ON from comcast, how do i do this?

Zonealarm, will the internet lock be the correct protection for always on cable?

When everything is A-ok again, I would love to add foxfire browser...is there a way to totally turn off IE6? or are there things that require it?
Thank you for considering my long inquiry.
I'm so grateful for the time & guidance of Those That Know
ps, is this nasty message a worm, trojan, or virus?
I'm also connecting each time @24.600, exactly half of usual...earthlink suggested it might be the phone lines at my mothers house, (I'm moving in to care for her)...so I guess I'll find out once cable is installed if the bug is the cause...
Chris
dell dimension 2100
xp home
norton 04
adaware freebie(which found blaster worm, not norton)
zonealarm freebie (added after blasterworm)
spybot freebie (added & used once after nasty message)
use earthlinks browser/email (used msn freebie 1st)
never used outlook/outlook express, or address book
dump temps before sign out daily
check security updates weekly or more
have frozen, but never crashed...(thank GOD)
>>>Continuing problem with unerasable Lexmark program, which has now deleted my new Epson...(don't have the CD here...recuperating post surgery)
Sure wish it had worked so persistantly when I needed it

 

pps.just opened wordpad, & tried to send an email.
a yellow triange popped ip & said could not send.
so at least I have "it" contained from exiting to someone else.
also, I did try to r click on it to check properties...it wouldn't allow this.
C

 

For me, Norton misses many viruses compared to mcafee.

Jimbob

 

Hi Pen2paper, welcome to Wilders.

I would start by following the comprehensive steps found in General Cleaning.

If these steps do not resolve your situation, you will need to download and run “Hijack This” found here and post your log at one of the forums found at A-SAP. The two bigger forums for HijackThis log processing, (meaning they process more log threads each day than most others) are: SpywareInfo.com and CastleCops.com. Be sure to read their posting policy in the links at their log review forum sections prior to posting.

The steps mentioned in General Cleaning use software that ought to be part of your security, as an absolute minimum.

Once your system is clean, you may want to take a look here for further discussion on security and how to make your system that much stronger and here for more.

This is what works really well for me, very simple to use and maintain.

Yes.

Keep continuously tapping the F8 key as your system FIRST starts (Black screen), there is also a link in General Cleaning that has further instructions for computers that this does not work with.

You don’t use Internet lock, unless you need to stop all internet activity in a emergency, I’ve never had the need for it to date.

There may be times when you will need IE, just let it sit in the background

Hope this helps...

Let us know how you go.

Cheers