So I accidentally infected my old dell (not my FSX-equipped computer, thank goodness) with some sort of spyware bug.  It is the kind that keeps opening webpages directing you to site that sells an anti-virus program.  I installed the free version of AVG in an attempt to remove it, and while it removed another bug, it didn't seem to correct the problem.  I also have an expired McAfee subscription on the computer.  What should I do now?

Why are you trying to remove spyware with a virusscanner? Download Spybot and Ad-Aware (both freeware). It'll help you out. Mind you this is no online protection software like a virusscanner or a firewall. You have to run them seperately to get rid of any spyware.

Crash

Sybot and Ad-Aware play nicely with McAffe in my experience. AVG will play nice to.

First, before you can do anything...DOWNLOAD THE COMPLETE UNINSTALL PROGRAM FROM MCAFEE! I don't know if they have one, but many anti malware programs crash your computer if you install them with another malware program installed. This is VERY important. I've even had remnant of Norton and McAfee war on each other. Simply disabling them is NEVER enough. Bit's get left behind. The first too results here should help you
Sorry if I come on a bit strong there, but I've had my PC out for weeks because of a simple incompatibility!  I REALLY don't want that to happen to you.

Another thing you might want to try is booting your system into safe mode, then do your scans again. A lot of problem software (spyware and viruses) load into the systems' memory at startup. Even if a scanner picks up that problem, if may not be able to delete it because it's technically "in use".  Booting in safe mode will bypass most normal startup files and only load that which is needed to get the machine up and running, making it easier to get rid of a few "tricky" types of bugs.

Wii wrote on Nov 21^st, 2007 at 11:01pm:

The FREE install of Zone Alarm doesn't have any of those problems. I've been using it for about eight years now, and can uninstall it at any time, and as far as it blocking programs, you just need to set up it's permissions.

I would also recomend Avira's free anti-virus instead of AVG when McAfee does expire . It's been my experience that it has better real-time protection than most other anti-virus programs, both freeware and payware alike.The only drawback with it though, is a nag screen everytime you update. (But the program works well enough that most can overlook that. I do!)

Most any "on-demand" anti spyware tools should work with McAfee just fine. The three that I feel (just my opinion) no PC should be without are Spyware Blaster, Spybot S&D, and Adawre (not the newest version). Together, with a good virus scanner and firewall, you should be pretty well covered.