I use a program called ad-aware,a friend of mine sent it to me and I run it once a month. The first time I ran it I was astounded at how much spyware was in my computer.Some of the pop-ups are designated to a certain letter on the keyboard so when you type that certain letter the unwanted ad automatically comes on to the screen. Cnet (aka: www.downloads.com )has free trials for several spyware programs WITHOUT HAVING TO GIVE YOUR CC # LOL! , so go there and at least use the free trial to clean up your hard drive. The spyware accumulates over a period of time, so if you've had your computer for a while or surf the net alot chances are you've got alot of unwanted junk in the hard drive. Good luck!!! KO