Oh, wow.
For the spyware, I've always found Lavasoft's
Ad-Aware to be effective. It's free for personal (non-commercial) use.
A firewall is always a good idea. My personal favorite is ZoneLab's
ZoneAlarm. Also free. The firewall will keep the viruses and spyware from sending information out over the Internet, and will ward off unauthorized access from outside (if you have a trojan, for example).
I'm assuming you were using Internet Explorer. To keep this from happening again, you can use the
Firefox browser (again, free) instead of IE. IE is known for its many, many security flaws. Frankly, you should never be able to get a virus from clicking a link! GRR!
Firefox is not perfect, but it's a heck of a lot better than IE. It does require more customization to make it comfortable, however. But once you get it set up exactly how you like, with all your favorite extensions and themes, it's a dream come true.
As for the viruses, there are a number of anti-virus solutions out there. I don't use any of them. Most of them cost money, but there are some free ones out there. For example, there's Trend Micro's
House Call. I don't remember if this one will actually get rid of them for you, though. But it does give you the names. Worse comes to worse, you can look up how to get rid of each virus on an individual basis.
Maybe someone else knows a better anti-virus solution.
Now, to tell the truth,
personally, I wouldn't bother trying to fix such a horrendously compromised system. It's better if you keep it from getting infected in the first place. The following may not work for you (I have no idea how computer savvy you are), but this is what I would do:
The first thing I would do is either unplug the Internet connection or install a firewall -- if you have viruses, spyware, and trojans, the last thing you want is for them to have access to the Internet. Especially if you have the kind that keeps making pop-ups appear (those can make it nearly impossible to do anything). The second thing is to remember not to reboot -- if you have viruses, you may not be able to get back into Windows if you do.
Next, back up
everything important you have on your computer to CDR/DVD -- irreplaceable things like pictures, especially. But don't back up any executable files or programs, as these may be infected now. If you have any programs that you'll need later, make sure you have access to everything you'll need to reinstall them (for example, CD keys, etc.).
Now, make absolutely sure you have
everything, because the next thing I would do is reformat the entire harddrive. This will get rid of EVERYTHING, and is very permanent. You will lose everything you did not back up. After that, completely reinstall Windows (using the Windows CD or Restore CD that came with your computer). You may have to set up the BIOS so that you can boot from the CD-ROM drive.
The first thing you'll want to do after that is install the firewall I mentioned above. The second thing would be to make sure you have the latest Service Pack installed, along with all of the latest Security Updates.
Next, download Firefox and delete the IE icon from the desktop.
Finally, make fresh installations of all your old programs.
If you choose to take this route and feel you might have
any difficulty with those steps, it would be a very, very good idea to get someone who really knows what they're doing to take a look at it. It's nearly impossible for me to tell you the exact steps you'll need to take.
-- Vilkacis
