This machine is dual boot XP Pro and Mandrake linux, under Windows environment I have Tauscan/Outpost/AdAware/Spybot all co-existing and working without any conflicts although my browser is Firefox not I.E.. having said that, I'm also behind a hardware firewall, and it's a builld myself machine .....no pre-configured/pre-installed software.
Touch wood, system logs and firewall logs remain clear .....and email (through Thunderbird) is set to only accept text ......... no html emails.