I share this PC with three teenage boys so no telling what the heck they may have downloaded.  I have never disabled my virus protection to play the game and I can't think of any other recent changes except that my Dell smart keys don't work upon boot up either.  I need to reset them every time. I figure I can save my saves file and delete and reload the game if necessary.  I just thought maybe this was a common problem that others had dealt with before.  Thanks for your response Raze.