Malware is malicious and can damage parts of Windows. Adware will see to it that you get lots of SPAM and unwanted pop-ups. Browser hijackers will take over your Internet Explorer, keeping you from using the home page you want, and making you use its search engine, instead of the search engine of your choice.

The good news is that both Spybot Search & Destroy and Ad-Aware have new versions of their programs out. You can get these (and other handy free programs) at www.mepush.com/tools.php

The bad news is that if your browser has been hijacked, you may not be able to download and install those programs. If that's the case, get a copy on floppy or CD from a friend and install from that.

AVG is still a good, free anti-virus software, but it only works if you keep it updated. Once in a while you'll get a pop-up asking if you want to update it - if you tell it "no" then it won't update, and you'll have an outdated program that does you virtually no good.

HiJackThis

HiJackThis is a free program that can be a great diagnostic tool - but BE CAREFUL to not use it to clean up items you don't think you need. Use the program to scan and save a log, then send the log along to someone with experience and have them take a look at it.

You can get HiJackThis at the website mentioned above. Before you download it, create a special folder for it - probably best to put that folder on the Desktop. To do that, RIGHTclick on a blank area of the Desktop, click on New - then click on Folder. Name the folder HJT. Download the file into that folder, or if you download it to a different location, find it and RIGHTclick and drag it to the HJT folder, let go and click on Move.

Go to the HJT folder and doubleclick to run the program. Click on "Do a system scan and save a log file" and when the scan is complete you'll see the log appear, using Notepad. DO NOT try to "fix" any items using HiJackThis, but send a copy of the log asking for help.

This program identifies everything that is running on your computer - and you'll find some things running that you have no idea what they are, or how they got there. Again, DO NOT try to delete any of these items without competent help.