I agree with Tarq in updating SP2 to SP3. However given that the OP was exposed to the Confiker virus, I would suggest downloading the following for protection for the future to vaccinate his/her machine and any removable devices:
http://research.pandasecurity.com/panda-usb-and-autorun-vaccine/I use this and it does not conflict with Avast at all. It is just an added measure of protection.
I would also clean your machine with something like
CCleaner, a freeware system optimization, privacy and cleaning tool. There is a
Slim version available as well at
http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/builds - 4th option down. It removes unused files (cache, temporary Internet files, etc.) from your system - allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space. It also cleans traces of your online activities such as your Internet history. Additionally it contains a fully featured registry cleaner, but I suggest making a backup prior to doing a registry cleaning.
Additionally, you can clean temp. Internet Files not cleaned with CCleaner with
TFC by OldTimer - download to your desktop.
http://www.geekstogo.com/forum/files/file/187-tfc-temp-file-cleaner-by-oldtimer/· Please double-click
TFC.exe to run it. (
Note: If you are running on Vista, right-click on the file and choose
Run As Administrator).
· It
will close all programs when running, so make sure you have
saved all your work before you begin.
· Click the
Start button to begin the process. Depending on how often you clean temp files, execution time should be anywhere from a few seconds to a minute or two.
Let it run uninterrupted to completion.
· Once it's finished it should
reboot your machine. If it does not, please
manually reboot the machine yourself to ensure a complete clean.
However leave the items quarantined by MBAM there; do not delete. Keep your Avast definitions up to date and you may want to do a boot-time scan as well.
Since XP firewall is ineffective and only allows 1-way protection, I recommend a third-party firewall with 2-way protection (Online Armor, Outpost, and Comodo without AV seem to work well with Avast). You should consider changing your FW to maximize your protection.