I downloaded crack programs for AnyDVD and CloneDVD from some warez site.

I ran the first one and it made a serious mess on my laptop. It loaded about 8-12 programs on the computer, all malware/spyware/adware. I removed all of them through uninstall and deletion.

There is still something running in the background that is throwing up random pop-up ads in various amounts. I can't figure out what is running that is allowing it. The pop-up blocker for MSIE is turned on and I'm not on sites that normally have pop-ups ads (like this one) but they still show up.

Also, the ALT-TABing is dorked up on my taskbar.


Anyone have any suggestions? I ran SpyBot and AdAware and removed all kinds of garbage. Nothing left in the Add-Remove Programs and there is nothing to switch off in MSCONFIG under Start-up Items.

Is it web popups or messenger popups?

If it's messenger popups, disable the Messenger service on your computer if you haven't done it in MSCONFIG.  It won't affect MSN Messenger.

1.save everything now. 2.write to zero's. 3.start over.

this takes a couple of hours, but your computor will run better anyway.

Quoted: Is it web popups or messenger popups? If it's messenger popups, disable the Messenger service on your computer if you haven't done it in MSCONFIG.  It won't affect MSN Messenger.

Web popups.... messenger is one of the first things I disable on a reformat.

Download HiJackthis, install it, and it will give you a list of what programs are starting.

www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/downloads.html

Sometimes BHO's (browser helper objects) are installed that need to be removed.  They are the source of the popups.  HiJackThis will identify BHO's as well as regular programs.

what the hell was that all about?

actually the best way to run hijacthis is form this web page link

click direct download.    scan WITH LOG FILE   and then post it into the blank white area on the page.  it will tell you what needs to be removed.   post it here if your not sure.  i can tell you yes or no

use the ms spyware beta its probably one of the best ms programs ive seen.

I've run hijackthis, ad aware, and spybot S&D... none have fixed the problem.

I'll look into the MS thing you mentioned. Thanks.

Try booting in safe mode (F8) and then running Hijackthis.  It's likely that something bad is running and stopping any changes or file deletions from sticking.

It's also possible that a required Windows file has been modified.  You can run sfc /scannow and that will replace any non microsoft system files, but you'll need to hit it again with any service packs that you may have updated.  Sometimes its less hassle to just reinstall the OS.