One of the computers in our house was recently possessed by a pop up virus that just wouldn’t go away. My usual one two punch of CCleaner and Ad-Aware just couldn’t exorcise the demon that even took control of the privacy settings. Every time I went to check the security level for cookies, I would move it up to block unwanted cookies. Every time I revisited the privacy control, the setting was back to accepting all cookies.

Being the cheapskate that I am, I clicked over to Download.com to look for some shareware that would help me clear up the virus. My first search was for a free spyware remover for the Windows XP operating system. The most popular one after Ad-Aware was Spybot - Search & Destroy. Download away. After installing Spybot, I released the hounds on my pop up demon, and Spybot made its way through dozens of unwanted dll files and registry entries to begin the cleansing of the infected desktop. If you decide to utilize Spybot, you will need to pay close attention to the alerts that notify you of actions such as attempted changes to the registry. Some of the changes are valid ones, while others are brought on by spyware cookies and software from intrusive web sites.

After Spybot was finished with its scan, I returned to Download.com to search for an antivirus program to monitor files entering this obviously vulnerable PC. Number one on the total downloads list was AVG Anti-Virus, and the description included those wonderful words - Free Edition. Clicking download. After installation, AVG was set free to scan for viruses and PUPs (Potentially Unwanted Programs). The antivirus cure was able to quarantine and delete several bugs from the system.

It has been a few weeks now since I spent most of an afternoon tackling this problem. The pop up has not returned from the netherworld, and the desktop seems to be running on all cylinders now. The internet is an amazing thing, and the broadband internet connection has opened up the competition for software programs of all types. Not that many years ago, we would have been forced by our slow dial up connections to get in the car and go to the local retailer to buy antivirus software on a CD and then return home to install the program. Now that software is just a click away through our broadband internet connections, which have become the biggest enemy of companies like Microsoft and Norton. The software that I used to solve my dilemma, and other tools such as the FireFox browser, would not be successful without the broadband internet connection. Broadband is the force that is leveling the playing field among PC operating systems and software.

Now I think I will check out some of the other wonders of the internet, those LOLcats on I Can Has Cheezburger?.