computer taken over

[jeyabe33]

hope somebody can help out, i just now joined the forums, so hello to all, first off i know hardley anything about computers ( i am in construction ) and i got these little ballons popping up saying that windows has detected spyware infection---it urges me to click to get protected, truth be known i did visit some websites where i think i got infected / hijacked--i try to go into the change programs and a notice comes up saying that i do not have acsess ( i use to get there ) i cannot even change my tool bar--i have webroot spysweeper that i never renewed--but still performs a sweep--the sweep showed spyware and trojan and says it quaratines them--i tried setting my laptop to an earlier time --and this is not allowed anymore--i have windows xp --any ideas --there is a another notice that pops up every two minutes right smack in the middle of the screen that says __windows security alert--warning potential spyware operation --your computer is making unauthorized copies of your system and internet files--run full scan now to preveny any unathorized acess to your files! click here to download spyware remover... PLEASE ADVISE

 

[Kharn]

Welcome.

Download AVG an Zone alarm run them they should clear out your spyware problem, then post a hijack log in the virus area you will get help there.

 

[atomic tofu]

it is likely many who are not familiar with computers do not update their windows....you may have a pre service pack xp. Updating to it will make most of this go away. Do not download or uninstall if you have, those links that pop up.

you can use this as a hub for online scanning:
Online malware scan

 

[carnageX]

Surprised nobody has linked to Osiris's guide yet, lol. Go through this:

http://www.techist.com/forums/f51/spyware-removal-guide-osiris-161792/

 

[superdave1984]

Be sure you clean up your system BEFORE you get SP2 if you don't have it.

 

[zmatt]

AVG for virus removal and Spybot for spyware. You also want a firewall if you router doesn't have one.