AA is not lost...how to proceed from here...

> Thanks for your help everyone!

> I was impatient and didn't wait for responses to do something about my
> problem. I DID do the system restore, which seemed to be the magic cure.
> I've had no more pop-up since then. The only thing I don't like about it
> is that erased the copy of AdAware that I purchased. Grrrr!

> I also did download eWido as well as A-Squared. They both found a lot of
> things buried in my registry and I was able to get rid of them. (I think.)
> (Woody, I wasn't ignoring your suggestion. I wsa just working through them
> one at a time. And I wasn't eager to pay for a bunch of stuff, not
> realizing I could get a free version.)

> So far, so good. But someone mentioned that I want to optimize the
> security of my system while maximizing functionality. BINGO! But as I
> said, I'm not the least bit techie and I really have no idea what I'm
> doing.

> I already have Zone Alarm. I'm not really sure how much it actually
> protects my system but I find it quite a pain in the neck to download and
> get all the settings set up. Invariably, when I update it, I can't connect
> to the Internet at all until I set it properly and it's always trial and
> error to do that. In fact, I haven't updated it in qute a while because I
> simply don't want to be bothered.

> Again, thanks to everyone for your help. I really appreciate it!

> Sincerely,
> Michelle

Michelle, you only lost Ad Aware temporarily. If you know when you purchased it, or have a copy of the info sheet they emailed you after the purchase, just contact them to get a replacement download for whichever version you purchased. They're pretty nice folks to deal with in my experience.

Glad the restore worked for you and all is well.

As for Zone Alarm, it's not the only game in town. Since you're on an XP machine you might like to give Kerio a try. Lee switched from Zone Alarm to Kerio and has been very happy with it. He has had zero problems since installing Kerio. He found it easier to configure than Zone Alarm.

As far as tightening up your security, start doing some searches for sites that will take you through securing your system. Hacker's Nightmare is a wee bit dated but full of good information that will help you with securing your system. It's an ebook that takes you step by step through securing your system, detailing options, how-to, and the rationale for them and then telling you what he recommends and why.

Don't recall which anti-virus system you're using but I hope it's not Norton, which usually comes on XP and can be a 'beach' to get rid of sometimes. There are threads in here (do a search) that talk about the various anti-virus programs.

We all learn from what Windows and other things throw at us. Welcome to the fire brigade! LOL