Getting RID of Ad/Spywre!

[decadence]

Originally posted by decadence: Run both the programs above with updates, and comment back if the problem continues.

Originally posted by jharb: I run both AdAware and Spybot Search & Destroy, but currently I am getting pop-ups off of random sites (even GC!). I've tried going through and uninstalling anything and everything that might be spyware related but I can't figure it out.
All this is quite annoying!

Well then, we'd better get it completely fixed then, hadn't we!

Download this: HijackThis

It's a zip file, unzip it to your desktop (or wherever you like) so you can then click on the extracted file and run HijackThis.
HijackThis will enable you to remove any instructions put in your computer (in the registry etc) to redirect to certain pages, run popup programs (browser hijackers etc). You can also damage your system using it if you click remove on something that SHOULDN'T be removed because it's a part of Windows, say.

HijackThis is an advanced tool. Not to be used in place of Spybot S&D or Ad-aware - this is a step after that, which isn't necessary for all users. There is a tutorial on how to use it at link, but if you're at all unsure or it looks complex then feel free to just click the Save Log button and PM me the contents and I'll take a look at it and tell you what's safe to remove. It WILL be able to deal with the residual traces of any trojans/hijackers you have there jharb.

I'd recommend you PM me that log, we should be able to get everything fixed no problem.
Hope that helps.

- decadence