> > Sorry, but I almost DIED laughing when I read your second to last sentence. Just 43? I'm regularly finding spyware objects in the HUNDREDS - no exaggeration. My most recent? 217. Man, you have it easy. My laptop is way worse, too. I don't even have internet explorer opened (I have wireless internet, though), and popups come up. I leave my laptop on for one night, and the screen is FILLED with popups. It's killing me. Ad-aware's helping, but... Google some more if you want - Adaware only checks for certain types of spyware things. Norton AntiVirus (which you have to pay for) is really really good for finding those Trojans and stuff.
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> You do know that shouldn't actually happen, don't you? If I ran a search and found 217 bits of malware I'd probably set my computer on fire and bury it three hundred feet down in a lead box. I run Windows, and over the past decade I've had three proper viruses and that's it. If you have a virus scanner checking your incoming mail, a firewall (hardware or software) closing your vulnerable little ports, and maybe some IE security fiddling to disable ActiveX et al, you'll probably never even *need* Spybot or AdAware or anything. Saying that you found 217 infections is a serious thing, and something you shouldn't have to live with any more than finding 217 strains of E-coli in your kitchen.

Not necessarily, it depends on how serious the bugs are. With a full scan Ad-aware detects everything from the IE-crashing malware to the generic Data Miner cookies, the latter of which you could have hundreds without any problems (for things like targeted advertising at a website)