Take a look at this text file that popped up after my son closed IE the other day. I knew he had problems for awhile since he'd been complaining about bad network performance and other oddities that I hadn't had time to troubleshoot. But thanks to this forum and misc. links I've been able to correct most of his problems with spyware scanning. Then I had a little chat with him about some of the "web enhancing" crap he so readily dled & installed.
I used MS beta anti spyware and Ad-Aware to rid his comp of 100's of infected files and reg entries! Over 500 infected files! In fact, the MS beta did not work after it's first scan and subsequent re-boot. Kept erring out before loading. The spyware was so entrenched that even Ad-aware had trouble. Luckly, after Ad-aware finished and shut down the MS beta worked again.
It can't be stressed enough the need for proper protection can it? Educating the new user must continue as well.