Windows. I cant take it anymore

Well last weekend I had to reinstall Winblows 2000 again. I have hardware firewall in my cable modem, antivirus software, spybot, browser hijack blaster and other popup/adware/spyware busters installed and running on my computer but I still get popups, browser url address anomalies and other sh_t from time to time.

What do you guys do other than the above to protect your computer against internet attacks?

you basically summed up what I use. Is there anything more specific you can tell us about your pop-up issue?

I do these things on top of my routine anti-spyware maintenance:

1) Avoid using p2p programs.

2) Use Mozilla Firefox*

3) Do not accept downloads that you do not initiate.

4) Make sure that any new software you install doesn't include spyware/adware. Research a program you are unsure about. Many installation packages will offer a choice of installing extras that may be spyware. I know people are in a hurry to install a new program and click yes, continue. okay, etc in rapid succession. Take your time and read everything before blindly continuing an installation.

5) Avoid porn sights. Avoid Porn sites.

* Using Firefox is no guarantee that you will not get infected but it does reduce the chances greatly.

These days, I use Ad-aware and Spywareblaster. I can't remember the last time I had problems with spyware, hijackers, etc.

I still use IE on a limited basis. I use it to check for Windows Updates, and to see how a web page looks. I keep it secure with a HOSTS file you can find here:

http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm.

As far as your immediate problem, I wouldn't download anymore programs just yet. Sounds like you have more than enough for now.

I would recommend you take these steps:

Download Hijack This

Run it, Click scan, save log, post the log here. don't fix anything yet. Just save the log for now.

Then we can proceed to troubleshooting.

*lol -- Good advice JrzyCrim...Especially 4 and 5. I'll try to help with the hijackthis log too if I catch it before you do.

Thanks ATNO. I'm sure Bootable will appreciate that.

I use Norton Antivirus 2004 with Norton Internet Security, Spyblast, and Mozilla Firefox. I occasionally scan with Ad-aware. I have NO popups and NO viruses whatsoever.

I use Zone-Alarm to zap all the popups. Found it works really well.

i use google bar to stop pop ups. even though all searchbars are spyware in a way its still a good way to keep away pop ups.

Windows is spywares bate.

The main problem that I see is that alot of people have these programs insalled and think that that's enough. You have to do frequent updates and scans for them to be effective.

I update my norton every night at 3 am and run a full system scan at 3:30 am every night and I have never had a problem. I run ad-aware and spybot every few weeks but don't find anything anymore since I started using firefox.

One thing that you might want to be watch out for when you are installing a bunch of "spyware removers" is to make sure that you stay with the more popular ones like spybot and ad-aware, because some of the so called "spyware removers" that you find on places like google are actually spyware themselves.

I agree she devil. I run my scans and updates at about 3am as well. But I find more often than not, that I will be working on something and it bogs down my system. Lol, I still do it though, because it is a necessity