Ya know i gotta admit whenever i read threads like this, it's sort of funny to see how people (who might know a little or a lot about computers) jump the gun and just automatically ASSUME the PC is bogged with spyware wihtout even first asking the basic diagnostic questions.
<rant>
Before jumping to conclusions and suggesting spyware removal tools, how about asking some basic questions? like how much RAM is installed..... is the HDD defragged on a regular basis.... how about running msconfig and seeing which applications are trigged to load up on boot up (thus tying up resources)... etc, etc.
People, do a little homework on PCs first before just blurting out answers that provide little value for users needing assistance. Before i became knowledgeable about PCs, i used to keep my mouth shut on forums whenever i didn't have an exact answer. I was a noob and the only way I could learn was by reading books, forums, and journals. Hell i'm still a n00b when compared to some of the Mods here... but if i feel that i'm not knowledgable about a certain topic, i'll sit back and read and try to actually learn something new rather than blurting out some crap that might have no relevance to the question asked.
Yeah i know i'ts a free country and you can post whatever you want. I'm just saying dont' just throw sh*t up in the air and hope it sticks. There's a certain protocol to follow.
</rant>
