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Originally Posted by coberst
Thanks for the info. My ISP finally told me that my only practical solution was get a new machine.
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For the record, your ISP is full of bovine fecal matter. To say that your machine is unfixable is exactly like claiming you need to buy a new car whenever you get a flat.
The clicky-pops have nothing to do with your computer. Your phone wiring has an intermittent short somewhere. It needs to be looked at by your telco. Get them to send a technician. (This will cost about 50 bucks for the callout, but the fix should be fairly simple.)
If you are using windows 98 and not 98se, you should consider seeing if you can get SE. It's much easier to work with and/or secure. And yes, it can be secured with a few easy sensible steps. It's less actively vulnerable than XP, truth be told.
So, your first step is to back up all your data. When you are done that, reformat and reinstall windows. That'll clear up your "unsolvable" spyware problem.
Download and install the following pieces of software:
Zone Alarm
Ad-Aware
AVG
Firefox and the Adblock extension
These are all free applications for home use, and are all generally considered as good or better than most of the subscription-based boxed-junk you get (*cough* Norton bad *cough*)
Install these and you won't even need to patch windows any. I never had to, and have never experienced any problems whatsoever.
Or, you could just install and run Ad-Aware and be done with it.