Okay, so you've got spyware. This could mean you have lots of annoying popups, your hard drive never stops spinning, your machine runs slow as anything, your homepage is always some random porn site or something, whatever.

This is not an attempt to be a guide to purging every possible thing, just the common, simple infections. Anything more complicated, email me, Rincebrain+spyware@gmail.com, and I'll look at it.

Items required:

• Ad-Aware Personal
• Microsoft Antispyware Beta (look in Old Versions and download beta 1 if you have any trouble installing it)
• Spybot Search & Destroy
• Some form of antivirus. If you don't have any, AVG is free.

First, install Microsoft Antispyware and run a full scan with it (not an "Intelligent" scan, a Full scan - click Scan options then make sure full scan is selected).
It should be safe to remove whatever it finds, so do so with extreme prejudice. If it prompts you to reboot and scan again, do so.

Next, Ad-Aware. Install, but when you get to the last screen, only select "Update definitions", and make sure the other two options are unchecked.
After you update the definitions, click Start, then Full system scan, then next. Again, terminate whatever it finds with extreme prejudice.

Reboot, and if you're still having problems, install Spybot. Update the definitions, follow the instructions after it's installed, then click the Scan option and run a system scan. When that's done, click Fix and remove everything found with, you guessed it, extreme prejudice.

If you're still having problems, update your virus definitions and run a full system scan - a lot of antivirus programs catch things that are on the border between virus and spyware.

Once this is all done, then please, for the love of everything you care for, either open Internet Explorer and pay Windows Update a visit or open Firefox and pay WindizUpdate a visit.
Keeping up to date prevents a lot of the crap you get on a day to day basis from gaining a foothold. I work at a helpdesk, and trust me, you'll be better off than most if you keep up on updates.

If this didn't help, grab HijackThis, reboot your computer into Safe Mode (press F8 right before your computer is about to show the "Microsoft Windows XP" logo when you turn it on, and select Advanced Options, then Safe Mode), run the above programs again, then run HijackThis, click the "Scan system + make log" option, then email me with the log attached.

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