Yay!
Thank you everybody who has taken the time to respond to this thread and help me out here, it is really appreciated.
No, I don't tend to use the Admin user account for routine/general computer use (aside from regular updating of AV's/scanners which Admin privileges are needed for - MBAM wouldn't seem to update otherwise).
There are 3 user accounts on this computer: my mum's, my brother's, mine and an Admin user account set up after a friend of my sister suggested it.
Only my mother and I have access to the Admin account - my mum's happy to let me have access to it as I use common sense and am the most knowledgeable person in our house when it comes to computers (done a few courses, have real life friends who are fully qualified in this kinda thing who teach me all sorts - I'm lucky to be friends with them, they're great people
).
I'm by no means an expert, but I draw on knowledge I already have, use common sense and take care of general maintenance and stuff like keeping it all up to date. If I spot a problem and I
KNOW FOR CERTAIN that I can fix it and won't break anything/f*ck it up, I get on with it - if I don't know what to do/what I'm doing I know people I can go to, have reliable sources and know where to look for help and advice (my brother on the other hand thinks he knows everything and jumps to conclusions - I like to first identify if there is a problem then what the problem is,
then I fix it if I can, if I can't I do homework on it and seek advice).