Foo - More freaking computer problems!

Somehow one of those adware program files (one of those ones that tracks your internet usage and forwards the material to spammers) found it's way onto my computer last night, and while I've located it (it's in the C://windows/temp directory), I can't seem to delete or quarantine it. I've tried using Norton on it and one or two other things, but I either get a message saying "this file cannot be deleted" or it closes windows explorer. What I want to know is how I get rid of the bloody thing, and where can I find a spanky firewall to prevent it happening again?

Whats the file name?

I don't have it in front of me right now (logged in from work), but from memory it was 13A2.exe or something similar.

if it is a hijacker, try CWShredder. If that doesn't work, try Hijackthis - caution: this shows registry files, and if you do not know what to look for, best to avoid it until someone familiar with reg-editing can walk you through it. Iused Hijackthis in tandem with the issue, and searched Google groups...no more redirected websites!
I also run Ad Aware 6 (freeware) and Search and Destroy...no probs here.

888you can also get the full file name and search others follies with it via google...that's how I figure out what I let in and what I let out.

I ran Ad Aware 6 on it last night, that was how I found it, but apparently it couldn't be removed. I'll try the other things tonight if I can find them.

Did you restart in safe mode (hit F8 about once a second after powering on until the boot selection screen pops up) and run Ad Aware again or try to delete the file manually?

Zone Alarm is a free firewall program, although it's not perfect. People I know have had trouble with it disconnecting AOL instant messenger randomly after installing it. You can get a decent deal on the upgrade to Norton Internet Security if you have antivirus. It includes a firewall that is much better than McAffee or the standard XP firewall, IMO. It won't fix your problem with "spanky" not being in the Word spellchecker, though. :D

With adaware run a second program called Search and Destroy. Adaware can't remove/find EVERY bot. Combined they are pretty unbeatable.

Somehow one of those adware program files (one of those ones that tracks your internet usage and forwards the material to spammers) found it's way onto my computer last night, and while I've located it (it's in the C://windows/temp directory), I can't seem to delete or quarantine it. I've tried using Norton on it and one or two other things, but I either get a message saying "this file cannot be deleted" or it closes windows explorer. What I want to know is how I get rid of the bloody thing, and where can I find a spanky firewall to prevent it happening again?

Sounds like a spybot. Click Here (http://www.download.com/3120-20-0.html?qt=spybot+search+and+destroy&tg=dl-2001) to download Spybot Search & Destroy. AS so as you have installed it, update the files and then immunize your computer. Run a scan on your computer to get rid of all (well, almost all) of the spybots on your computer. It may or may not get rid of it or fix your problem but its worth a shot. I use it and it works swell for me. BTW, this is not pirated in case you are wondering. The person who wrote the program doesn't see why you should pay to get rid of malicious files on your computer. Give it a try.

This website should help you get rid of whatever spyware or virus is ailing your PC.

Security Tango (http://securitytango.com/) Click on the "Let's Dance!" button.

Just curious do you use IE for web browsing? From what I understand a browser like Opera or Firefox will prevent a lot of this code from installing on your machine. Anyone?

Oh yeah... With MSIE I was getting 18 - 25 SpyBot problems with my weekly maintenence. Since I've switched to Firefox over two months ago... zero, zip, zilch, NADA Not one baddie has made its way in in better than 8 weeks. I'm sold!

If that's not enough, Firefox has a gerat pop-up manager too :-))))))))))))))))))))))