Expert: Doug Woodall - 3/14/2008

Question
when I do searches on google.com and click on a link I get redirected to us.maxfiles.com, it also takes me to a web site www.beddidle.com or something like that...How do I stop this?
I'm running Windows XP for the home.  I have Spybot Search and Distroy, AVG Free Anti virus.

I also get a few popup websites for credit card apps, search sites, oh and 'hornymatch.com'...now thanks to that my wife thinks I'm out there searching....haha...

Anyway any suggestions on cleaning up my PC from the google searches and the popups.  

One other question, what is the difference between spyware and website popups?

Answer
Hi Rock,
Sounds like a Virus. Avg may not detect it. Ive heard of AVG missing some lately. Alot of users are switching to Avast I hear.
You can dnload the free version of Avast here.
http://www.avast.com/eng/free_virus_protectio.html

If this does not do it, let me know.

Popups are ads and they are included in the definition of Spyware. Clicking on these links can take you to a site that may harvest your personal data and result in ID theft. So they are not just ads.

Hope this helps.