Ad-Aware
Ad-Aware is designed to provide advanced protection from known Data-mining, aggressive advertising, Parasites, Scumware, selected traditional Trojans, Dialers, Malware, Browser hijackers, and tracking components.
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Spybot - Search & Destroy
Spybot - Search & Destroy can detect and remove a multitude of adware files and modules from your computer. Spybot also can clean program and Web-usage tracks from your system, which is especially useful if you share your computer with other users. Modules chosen for removal can be sent directly to the included file shredder, ensuring complete elimination from your system. For advanced users, it allows you to fix registry inconsistencies related to adware and to malicious program installations. More Info/Download

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WinPatrol
Increase Speed & System Performance, Detect & Neutralize Spyware, Detect & Neutralize ADware, Detect & Neutralize Unwanted IE Add-Ons, Detect & Neutralize virus infections, Automatically Filter Unwanted Cookies, Avoid Start Page Hijacking, Detect HOSTS file changes, Kill Multiple Tasks that replicate each other, in a single step, Stop programs that repeatedly add themselves to your Startup List. More Info/Download

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FileZilla
Open source FTP client.
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Mozilla Firefox
Open source web browser.Not enough space to list the reasons you should be using any browser but Internet Explorer. More Info/Download

Symptoms: Affects all versions of Windows - instability, homepage hijack, search redirect

CoolWebSearch is a particularly virulent malware program, that commonly hijacks the browser and redirects a visitor to either CoolWebSearch or any of its affiliates. It is considered to be a 'crossbred' strain of malware because it has the characteristics of both malware and a trojan virus. Although it appears to be a malware program, effectively disguising its true nature it is technically coded as a trojan. This makes detection of CoolWebSearch extremely difficult at times.

Removal: CWShredder 1.59
More info: Scumware.com

Symptoms: pop-ups, instability, homepage hijack, search redirect, search bars, installs assorted other malware

VX2 variant registers itself in a way, which gives it system privileges. It also prevents the user from viewing this information by removing the user's rights to do so. Furthermore it constantly monitors the registry and prevents any attempts to remove its associated values. This makes it very difficult for the user to manually remove it.

Removal: Ad-Aware VX2 plug-in
More info: Spyware Guide

Symptoms: With Windows XP and a Sound Blaster Live card, Eloquence causes a crackling sound at the ends of words and sentences. This has been reproduced on several computers running various combinations of hardware and software. This affects JAWS 4.x and higher as well as MAGic 8.0.x

Cause: Some recent Creative Labs sound card drivers feature a "turbo mode", which is usually enabled by default. Disabling "turbo mode" will stop the sound cards from making "hissing" or "crackling" noises, but Creative Labs does not provide a way to disable it.

Solution: Driver from Gateway
More info: Freedom Scientific

Symptoms: On system start up, mouse pointer freezes on the screen and leaves a persistent copy of itself at the location at which it froze. The pointer can still be seen intermittently as you move the mouse, and it becomes visible again if it moved to the top of the screen. The mouse is rendered virtually unusable.

Cause: The culprit has been found to be hkcmd.exe from Intel, a hotkey controller. It seems that hkcmd.exe is installed alongside Intel multimedia devices and allows configurable options for these devices.

Solution: The fastest and easiest way seems to be to either disable or remove the program from the start up files. Weapon of choice: WinPatrol.