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.