[xcamel]

Spybot S&D
AdAware se
Both will kill it, both are free downloads.

[xcamel]

Oh.. also -
HijackThis will prevent it from happening again.

[SAMS]

The same damn thing has been happening on my laptop! Driving me nuts.

[OSHA]

Adaware from http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/

popup blocker http://www.panicware.com/popupstopper-popupkiller.html?hop=tandt601

[kinoxi]

download 'hijackthis', post the results on a technical forum if the programs suggested here don't fix it. try the basic malware removers first

[OSHA]

If it turns out you have some variants of Cool Web Search (CWS) You may need CWS Shredder to get rid of it.

[Chode]

heae you tried to restore the registry from the last known good???

[savedbygrace]

Does this pop up virus have a name?

The latest version of Zone Alarm Pro seems to catch stuff the others don't. I'm sure there are some things it doesn't catch that another ASW app wilkl catch, but it seems to do a great job of this.

[OSHA]

http://8help.osu.edu/1759.html

[Riley]

Download and run Ewido. Before running it- make sure you update it with current definitions.

http://www.ewido.net/en/

Run it in Safe Mode, blow away what it finds- then hit it with Spybot and Adaware. Anything that's left over- go to Spywarewarrior.com and get some specific help with it.

Be careful with Hijack This- it's a great tool, but you can accidentally do more than you planned on doing.

Also- there are a lot of bogus antispyware applications on the net that are exactly the opposite of what they claim to be. Spywarewarrior.com maintains a list of them.

[musicman]

"This program redirects the browser to a website that sells software to fix the problem that it causes."

I'm not entirely certain, but it appears your "virus" is spreading and there isn't much to stop it since its' inception in January of 2001.

So far even there isn't a "fix" for the "MSM-Democratic-Agenda & Platfrom" virus.......

[JimRed]

Great scam; create a virus, then sell the cure! Execution is too good for hackers.

[JRios1968]

If it is Aurora, you will need to perform a fairly complex cleanup, involving HijackThis, Spybot, and Ewido. Go to this thread and it will help.

[InterceptPoint]

This is guaranteed to work:

1. Go to GeeksToGo and look for the Remove Malware/HiJackThis forum. Click on the "Please Start Here" link.

2. Read the instructions carefully. They will tell you what to do. The instructions will include running HiJackThis and posting a log to the forum.

3. Someone on the staff at GeeksToGo will respond with an analysis of your HiJackThis log and will give you further instructions and a request to post a new HiJackThis log.

If your problem is simple you may solve it in one or two HiJackThis analysis cycles. In my daughter's case, which was severe, it took about 8 cycles and two days. But it worked. The guys/gals at GeeksToGo are very good. They will point you to various free utilities that have been developed by them and others that are specific to your problem. They are very knowledgeable when it comes to adware and malware.

[jdm]

Run a BitDefender scan:

http://www.bitdefender.com/scan8/ie.html

[js1138]

Boot in safe mode and run your spyware checkers. The bad guys are probably reinstalling themselves.

Running scans in safe mode avoids this.

[holymoly]

Though you've gotten some good advice already, you might want to scan your system with Dr. Web CureIT.

Dr. Web CureIT is "a FREE anti-virus and anti-spyware scanner based on the Dr.Web engine which will help you quickly scan and cure, if necessary, a computer operated by MS Windows 95OSR2/ 98/Me/NT 4.0/2000/XP without installation of the Dr.Web Anti-virus."

Dr. Web CureIT does not require installation.

Since it appears your browser has been hi-jacked, I assume you're using MSIE.

If you MUST use MSIE, make sure you use Spybots' "Immunize" feature. Also, enable "SDHelper" and "TeaTimer".

Note: There's a small bug in the Spybot 1.4 TeaTimer pop-up, addressed here: Solution to fix the pop-ups in TeaTimer

Also, download, update, and use SpywareBlaster. There is a small bit of overlap with Spybots' "Immunize" feature, but this will not cause any problems.

If you ARE using MSIE, you may want to consider an alternative:

Mozilla.org Firefox the Mozilla Suite

Opera

[ThePythonicCow]

Some recommendations from the bottom of my Freeper home page:

The best site for keeping your PC safe from spam, viruses, spyware and other security hazards on the internet is FirewallGuide.com.

The best sites to go to when you've got a nasty spyware infection and all else has failed and you need some real live expert help are CastleCops.com, Gladiator Security Forum, SpywareInfo, Spyware Warrior, Wilders Security Forums, or Geeks to Go. Thanks to Freeper backhoe for some of these suggestions.

The Geeks to Go site has a couple of excellent lists of steps to follow:

1. Steps to clean up a system
2. Steps to keep your system healthy

[js1138]

I don't see a lot of people agreeing with me, but I'm going to repeat it. A lot of viruses and spyware can only be removed in safe mode. AdAware, for example, can be run in safe mode, and will actually clean things that it can only detect in normal mode.

[fedupjohn]

This is a thank you to everyone who posted. I am still cleaning the machine but I did take the afternoon off for dinner with Mom, Sis and our family. I am cleaning in safe mode and I am using Adware, Spybot and Microsoft anti spyware. I have cleaned out some stuff I did not know was even in there. I will keep everyone posted as to what I had to do to clean it.