Robert,
I understand there is paid support, but for Microsoft to sell a defective product, then charge you to try to fix it is bad business. The product should work at least for a while -- and sellers other than Microsoft understand this by offering recalls, free support for a limited time, warranties, etc. I thus find your apology for the practice to be even more bizarre. The sheer length of this thread is strong testimony for the fact that many, many customers have this same issue. We can't all have viruses that cause the same issue. In reaction to analogous abusive practices by sellers of other products, most states adopted "lemon laws" for cars and certain other products, as well as deceptive trade practices laws for goods and services generally. Should Microsoft continue to refuse to provide fixes for products that were defective from the start, then consumers will band together in "mass action" (which are distinct from class actions and thus have not been curtailed by Big Money paying off politicians and judges). In a mass action, nobody purports to represent a class of people; each individual signs up to join with others -- each in their own name -- and there is great strength in numbers. Perhaps a few of those suits around the country would persuade Microsoft that selling a defective product, then extorting money from customers just to make it work in the first place, is not smart business after all.