Hi Guys!

[Guest Motormouse]

"Any more suggestions greatfully accepted. :)"Hi Tom,try running this little 'freebie' (actually its' 'donation ware') program too,it works like ad-aware, and also checks your registry and program pathways."Spybot-Search and Destroy" get it from here; http://www.safer-networking.org/Like the 'other guys' I don't use Norton or McAfee products,until recently I was using e-Aladdin's e-Safe, but as they stopped supporting it, I've now got "F-Secure internet security suite" from here, its payware,but you get a free trial download,as a bonus it also blocks spyware 'trojans' :-)The firewall takes a bit of setting up,but works better (imho) than free zone alarm;http://www.f-secure.com/You might find either or both these utilities useful too,"Start-Stop" To manage and disable un-wanted startup entries,and "End-it-All" which shuts down running processes to free up RAM etc. And to finish, I find that the new 'Google toolbar' blocks pop-up adds quite well too!:-wavePete

[Guest twsimfan]

Thanks guys,I honestly had never heard of adware viruses before a few weeks ago. Aparently I was alone in this bliss. Obviously I had some of them... some of the files dated back over a year. But Norton Anti-virus 2003 even fully updated never reported them. As I was obviously infected with something pretty nasty I updated to Norton Internet Security and the AV section of that reported them but took no action. The info their information database about them made it sound impossible to remove them without tons of in-depth knowledge.This following statement is from me and has nothing to do with AVSIM or it's opinions on such things... indeed I don't have any idea what AVSIM's opinion is.I am beginning to seriously suspect that Symantec/Norton is behind these things... or at least some of them. They sure didn't tell me that there were easy ways to remove them.I am fortunate to be associated with such a great bunch of guys like you. If not for your help this system may well have been converted to a tulip planter by now... it was sure headed in that direction.It is all better now and I owe each and every one of you! :-beerchug

[Guest effyouthree]

Tom,Main thing is, you sorted it!As far as responsibilities go, Micro$oft engineers 'holes' in their software for their 'partners' to plug. There, I've said it. I'm not saying it's inherent in the design of the OS - it's fundamental to the ideology that Micro$oft (and many other software suppliers, like NAV) have. That ideology dictates that they'll never 'finish' an OS before shipping it, but leave parts unfinished for update later or, in the case of 2nd party suppliers (non-OS) for future (payable) upgrades. This is because most people who buy new stuff only buy it because it's new, not better. The number of people I know with new 3GHz PCs with LCD screens, XP, DVDs etc is >30. Most of them use them for shopping lists or emailing their relatives. Most of them would also be better off with a Palm Pilot...It sucks. If FU3 was written for Solaris/Unix/Linux/Mac, I'd use one of those. Unfortunately, there's no money in it on that side of the game and it's obviously your money that vendors want - not happiness. They couldn't care less if you never buy from them again.Don't get me going on a Monday...:-waveRegards,**************Jonathan Point**************"I'd rather be down here wishing I was up there than up there wishing I was down here"