Updating does get rid of most. Combine that with a decent level of security setting so it won't run unwanted code like activex and such without your knowledge. Combined yet again with a decent virus scanner that also checks for hijackers and you are basically set. Then, just run a couple trojan/hijacker scanners every so often and you have nothing to worry about. I think one has gotten through in about 4 years of using XP for me and all I use is IE.
