It seems I have a shedload of adwware and spyware infections. They keep hijacking my home page and I'm besieged with pop-ups, all of which tell me I have adware and spyware on my PC and offering to clean it off for a price. Obviously I don't trust these pop-ups as they are adware in themselves.

I downloaded Lavasoft adaware and spybot search and destroy. They both found a few things which I deleted, only for them to pop straight back up again. I've tried deleting them manualy from the registry, doing it in safe mode and turning off System Restore and deleting them all again. But still they pop straight back up. I've bought Norton Internet security Pro 2004 with firewall etc, but that doesn't seem to help either.

Anyone got any suggestions before I smash the thing up?

Hi Paddy,

When running Ad-aware, check for updates before running program. Then follow the directions here to do a full scan:

The following explains how to set Ad-aware's settings to perform a "Full Scan."

In Ad-aware click the Gear to go to the Settings area.

The following items should be on a green check, not on a red X.

Under the Scanning button:

Scan within archives

Under Memory & Registry, Check EVERYTHING

In Check Drives & Folders, make sure all of your hard drives are selected

Under the Advanced button, check ALL under Log detail level (this makes it easier for visitors to the Lavasoft Support Forums to see what options you have selected should you require assistance.)

Under the Tweak button...

Some of these may not be an available option, depending on your version of Ad-aware and your version of Windows. Do not be concerned if you cannot select a certain item.

In Scanning Engine:

Unload recognized processes during scanning

Include info about ignored objects in logfile, if detected in scan

Include basic Ad-aware settings in logfile

Include additional Ad-aware settings in logfile

Include used command line parameters in logfile

In Cleaning Engine:

XP/2000: Allow unloading explorer to unload shell extensions prior to deletion

Let Windows remove files in use at next reboot

UNCHECK: Automatically try to unregister objects prior to deletion

Click Proceed to save these settings. When you would like to perform a "Full Scan," switch the scan mode from SmartScan to Custom.

After running Ad-aware, you must reboot your computer. It may be necessary to run Ad-aware two or three times if you have a lot of spyware, rebooting each time in between.

Another great spyware killer is the free version of Spy Sweeper from:

http://www.webroot.com/wb/products/spysweeper/index.php

You might want to download Hijack This from:

http://www.spychecker.com/program/hijackthis.html

The following site will help you understand the results of Hijack This:

http://hjt.wizardsofwebsites.com/

Hope this helps!
Lorry