Technology...Can't Live With It, Can't Live Without It!

I had serious computer "issues" yesterday. My anti-virus program did an automatic update and I lost my ability to connect to my home wireless network with my laptop. I thought I was losing my mind but did a Google search and determined that it was a legitimate issue with the most recent McAfee update. Grrrr! It was initially an easy fix as I was able to do a system restore back to before the update occurred. Then...well, let's just say I should've left well enough alone... I (correctly) figured that the updates would be downloaded again and I'd soon be in the same situation so I decided to uninstall McAfee completely and install a different anti-virus program. Sounds easy enough, right? Well, I don't know what happened but after uninstalling McAfee, I was not able to connect to the internet at all...not even directly with a cable to the router. My knowledge of such things is minimal, at best, and I was so frustrated by this point that I just broke down in tears!! As a last resort, I tried one more system restore which was, thankfully, somewhat successful. My computer is functioning and able to access the home network and internet but, I don't know what my anti-virus status is. The McAfee icon is back on my desktop but doesn't open and I have a huge warning flag that says my computer is not protected. I assume that my files have been corrupted so I've tried going to the McAfee website to download the program again. I keep getting an error message that either there is a problem with my internet connection OR the McAfee download server is unavailable. My internet connection appears to be working and if there are others like me who have experienced this problem with recent updates, I can see where their server could be unavailable. So, I am treading lightly and hoping that my computer doesn't get attacked. I know that I used to function just fine without a computer and the internet but, I just can't imagine it!!