I'm running Windows 98 on an old machine (don't laugh!).
Recently, when launching Internet Explorer, I see a very brief flash
of a small window, and then popup ads and solicitations come up all
throughout my time spent in IE.  Many of these popups are the same all
the time (i.e., yesterday's and today's will be the same).
  
ALSO, an IE "Search window" shows up in my browser almost every time I
click in the IE window.  I always have to close this section by
clicking the "x".

Clearly, I have some unauthorized downloads and bots and other(?)
intrusion in my system.  I'm running a local firewall, but it seems
out of date since it let this stuff through.

First: How can I find and clean this up for good?  
Second: What protection should I get for my computer?

Thanks for your help,
vla61

Hi, I think you have some spyware install on your computer, I recomend this:
Go to www.adaware.com or www.lavasoft.com and download the Adaware
6.xx (the last version will be good), DON'T forget to UPDATE the
program with it own upgrate section.

Second, if you need a good protection for your info, you need the
better firewallso go to www.kerio.com and download the KERIO PERSONAL
FIREWALL, I don't use other because that is the best.

Remember to run each week the adaware software.

BYE

Hello.

You are suffering from ad/spyware.  These programs are installed
without your consent and are used to turn your computer into an
internet billboard.

To help get rid of spyware, I would recommend installing a piece of
spyware called Spybot Search and Destroy
(http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html).  After installation,
update the definitions and allow the program to scan your computer. 
You should update and run this program regularly (at least once a
week)

I would also scan through the Add/Remove Program portion of the
Control Panel.  Look for programs that you did not install.  Remove
the programs that sound like adware.

Lastly, to help prevent the installation of ad/spyware, I would
recommend installing a web browser called
FireFox(http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/).  Use this web
browser instead of Internet Explorer.

For more information, please check out this article -
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/computersecurity/2004-09-08-zombieinfect_x.htm

It sounds like your computer has been infected by malicious
adware/spyware software.
There are numerous ways your computer can become prone to
adware/spyware infections. Some "free" software like KaZaA and NetZero
are bundled with adware/spyware software. In order for these programs
to work properly, the secondary adware/spyware software must also be
running. Additionally, unknown executables (including malicious use of
ActiveX controls) can install this sort of unwanted software.
If you are interested in removing this software from your computer,
there are lots of great adware/spyware diagnosis and removal products
in stores and on the web. If you're looking for a free alternative,
I've found that the following freeware works quite well: 1) Ad-Aware
SE Personal edition by Lavasoft, or 2) Spybot-Search & Destroy.

Ad-Aware website:  http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/
Ad-Aware download:  http://www.download.com/Ad-Aware-SE-Personal-Edition/3000-8022_4-10045910.html?part=dl-ad-aware&subj=dl&tag=top5
Spybot-S&D website:  http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html
Spybot-S&D download:  http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html

Good luck!

A firewall won't really affect your vulnerability of your browser.

Practically all computer security is done wrong.  The right ideas are here:
    http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~smb/papers/subos.pdf
and maybe here
    http://www.coyotos.org/
with perhaps the most practical product influenced by these ideas here
    http://www.immunix.com/
which I can't comment on specifically.

Short of that fairly drastic step your best plans are to dump Windows
and use Linux or BSD - or at the very least dump IE and use Firefox
(and keep it up to date).

Pretty much all the information you need are available in prev comments, 
I strongly recommend using Firefox on Windows.. dump IE.. IE sucks

Yep, Firefox is great. And when you get around to updating your
computer, go for a Mac. You'll immediately decrease your risk of
viruses and other malicious cyber vandalism by something like 97%.

I am your angel of mercy. Do not listen to any of these people. Doing
what they are telling you is not going to do anything but waste your
time. The only way to fix this is to RE-Install Windows and PATCH it,
put antiviral software on it and anti spyware on it. BEFORE you
connect it to any external network(The Internet) If this is beyond you
skill set, go to your local computer repair shop,(The smaller the
better) and tell them you need a re-install of your software and OS.
SAVE anything that you want on the computer to floppies due to the
fact that when you get your system back it will be gone. This is your
only hope. I have done this to over 3,000 systems and this is the best
way. If you use your computer every day you might want to buy a new
one. They are cheap and much faster than the one you currently have.
DO NOT BUY APPLE! They crash and lock up enough without any help,you
buy a computer to run applications, 99.9% of the applications written
run on Windows not MAC. Also when it breaks noone will fix it for less
than a small fortune.

Stacksmasher, you're new here aren't you? Keep it nice, okay? It's one
of the things that makes this service so enjoyable and so worthwhile.
Everyone's got an opinion and if we choose to share it, we do so in
the hope that we might be helping someone and offering a different
perspective. That's it. No agendas. No shouting. No aggro.

By the way, there have been some very informative and entertaining
discussions in this forum regarding Macs vs PCs. I happen to prefer
Macs. The reason why I prefer them is because I've used them
professionally and at home since 1992 and have never, ever had a
problem or a virus (other than having to replace a pRAM battery on,
believe it or not, January 1, 2000, which panicked me because I
thought it was y2K!) I rang a free help line and was told how to fix
it myself which I did. Most of the major software producers provide
Mac versions and I have never *not* been able to do the work or the
recreation I wanted because I have a Mac. Macs are increasingly
ubiquitous and if a software producer doesn't have a Mac version, then
they're being rather shortsighted, and this fact should be -- nicely
-- pointed out to them.

vla61, I really hope you get your problem sorted. You've done well to
keep your old computer running for so long! Once you get it cleaned,
the suggestion to use a different browser is really worth considering.
I was told to avoid using IE because so many of these adware and
spyware and virus programs travel so easily via IE. A different
browser will go some way to helping you avoid them and Firefox is
considered to be very worthwhile. Opera is meant to be good too. I use
Firefox for Internet and Thunderbird for email and they're great. I
also make sure that my ISP is taking it all seriously too and that
they take a pro active role in the war against viruses, scams and
spam.

best wishes...
S.

Wow - lots of great comments and advice!  Thanks to all of you for the help.

Stressedmum - I agree with your comments about the Answers.Google
forum.  The community nature of it (tho, partly for a fee!) implies a
social norm that rejects aggression.  Having said so however, I
certainly understand Stacksmasher's passion - and applaud it - whether
I agree with the advice or not.

What I've done so far (before today's comments):
Already had Spybot, but one of the downloaded unfriendlies caused even
it problems, and it will no longer run.  I haven't yet - but will
probably uninstall it and redownload shortly.

Did get the Ad-ware software and ran it.  It's helped, but still have
trouble...just not as much.

Then, I tried to uninstall IE.  If the computer's connected (via
cable) at startup, 3 or 4 popups automatically show up with IE.  I was
hoping to get rid of IE (I did download Firefox) all together, but
Windows won't let me uninstall it, or even rename it.  Crap.

I do absolutely plan to have the machine scrubbed; I'm in the process
of saving the files I want to keep, and will then kill all C: and
start over.
I'm also buying a new machine (needed one anyway), but will want to keep both.

Thanks to all for your detailed advice!  

Vla61

One thing that was not mentioned here that is extremely important in
managing a Windows-based PC wish adware. If you have been infected
with alot of adware/spyware, you HAVE to run the adware/spyware
removal tools in Windows Safe Mode. This is because adware can hide
itself from scanners, but they are completely unable to do so in Safe
Mode.

To do this, reboot your computer, and as soon as it starts back up
start hitting the F5 and F8 keys, at about 2 or 3 times a second. It
will either boot directly into Safe Mode, or will present you with a
DOS options list. Arrow over to Safe Mode and hit return.

The screen will look very strange, but this is normal becuase it only
loads the most basic drivers in order to run the computer.

Run the scans in here, and don't be surprised if you find much more
than you have before this.