There are different things that bring up alarms in AdAware and SpyBot.
What *exactly* was found?

Cheers,

Ari

If you have win 2000 or xp Microsoft has a free one:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=321cd7a2-6a57-4c57-a8bd
-dbf62eda9671&displaylang=en
Also Adware is a good one and free sounds like you have that one.  
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/

It is good to have more than one program.  Also be very careful about
on line scans some of these "scans" are really scams and they will put
spyware on your machine then attempt to charge you to take it off.
Check out the scan site carefully because there are several bogus
sites out there. Do  google and usenet searches before you do any
scans. -- MZ

Visit my website:
http://www.mzuschlag.com

2005-09-30, Responding to janersagain...

Spyware comes with your operating system. Whatever you do,
it is designed to put out data to M$, therefore, because it
is inherently insecure, it will be a prime target of those
who also want your "demographic data". The effort to keep
"ahead of the game" by M$ is a joke, only releasing
half-functioning patches when the PR indicators start
dipping (ie: when they feel they have to), and then
crashing existing applications when it is applied etc.

Other non-M$ software (for WinDOHs) is also compromised by
the "phone-home" spyware built into M$ OSs, and so you will
inevitably be fighting a rearguard action trying to protect
your data/computer from all the bots/crackers/spyware etc.
that seek to take advantage of this undesirable  "function".

The only solution I've found that worked was to nuke all the
M$ stuff off my HDD and install a completely different
operating system. Fortunately, there are many available and
99% of them are free to download and use as you like.

My favorite is Slackware, which has a sterling reputation
for stable performance, and as its been around for some time
(v10.2 out soon!), there is plenty of documentation
available for it and the huge range of (free!) applications
it comes with means never having to search for suspect and
untrustable "freebies" again.

Maybe not quite what you were asking about, but I keep
seeing so much work invested in chasing that dream of a
fully patched and secured WinDOHs OS, when far less work
would have produced a fully customised Slackware (or other
Linux/BSD distribution) installation that actually would
have been as secure and the best web-servers. (Search
"Apache web server" for a few clues ;)

When you consider that the software available for WinDOHs is
generally patent-protected to the degree nobody but the
authors and the crackers know how it works or what it
actually does, and "Open Source" software by comparison has
thousands of eager bug-hunters stalking through it's code on
a daily basis, and that a typical M$ patch is usually at
least six months out of date by the time it is released, and
a typical Linux patch is available within 24 hours (and a
new application within a week or two usually) you can see
why I for one would not entertain the idea of ever having M$
software on my network again.

(I'll forgo the customary 2cents BTW. ;)

It seems to me I heard somewhere that janersagain wrote in article
<Tt2dnbBIk4-UqKDeRVn-tg@bright.net>:

Ad-Aware is about the most straightforward to use.

SpyBot may be just slightly harder to set up, but it digs a little
deeper into the machine's innards and may find things Ad-Aware doesn't.

I use both, but Ad-Aware is the one I use most regularly.  Both
companies update their search data files regularly.

I have used both (together) in the past and found them very good, but
they respond to different things. I is a good idea to run one and then
the other on a regular basis.

If you have a firewall (MOST DEFINITELY RECOMMENDED) the firewall may
have some anti-spyware options.

I use Zone Alarm Security Suite, which includes anti-virus and anti-
spyware. I also tighten the controls on the firewall, block most cookies
and have the others automatically deleted immediately (some sites
require you to accept cookies to access the site).

Remember that the free version of a good program is usually not as good
as the paid version.

Also remember to delete all cookies and temporary internet files as soon
as you exit the net. The computer will run better and you will have some
better security.

If you are running Windows, go to this site
http://www.mlin.net/
and download (and install) StartUp monitor. It's a free program which
will let you know if any program tries to register itself to begin when
Windows starts, and gives you the option of blocking it. Some downloads
have hidden "bombs" which will do nasty and/or annoying things when you
boot you computer.

He has some other nice freeware too.

As mentioned, run both AdAware and Spybot as they tend to compliment
each other. Another good freebie to add is SpywareBlaster.

http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html