Expert: Carolyn Meinel - 10/6/2005

Question
Hi,
I am using Windows XP and have since formatting my computer a few months ago been receiving a lot of popups [most of them are quite Ironic Telling me that I may have adware or spyware on my pc :P) I know that I do have adaware and  possibly spyware on my PC but i have not been able to remove it.

I've used spyware doctor, Norton antivirus (I dont know if its doing anything), Microsoft AntiSpyware (Since when have Microsoft been so interested in security :P), SpyBot Search and Destroy, and Lavasofts Adaware. Most of these decect adaware and sometimes mild spyware (such as tracing cookies) on my PC and supposedly remove them for only to see them come back within not too long.

Could you please help me remove these off my PC because it is also starting to Lag my PC a bit lately.

Thanks for your help!
Chris

Answer
Do you have the 2006 version of Norton? It has a much more powerful adware/spyware engine. Alternatively, you could try BHODemon. It is free from http://www.definitivesolutions.com/bhodemon.htm It enables you to control the "browser helper objects" of Internet Explorer (IE). Another possibility is to turn off all ActiveX activity on IE. To do this, click tools --> Internet Options --> Security --> Custom Level.

Or you could simply quit using IE and install the Firefox browser, free from Mozilla.org. It is invulnerable to almost all adware and spyware.