Hi

I think I have a spyware infection. The symptoms are as follows:
"Windows Antivirus" message screen keeps on popping up from an icon on the task bar announcing that windows has detected spyware and suggesting downloading of antispyware. Occasionally another "Windows security Alert" window also pops up warning that the system is making copies of system files, etc. I am also unable to access control panel.

Can somebody help ?

What antivirus software do you have?

I recommend downloading AVG (http://free.grisoft.com/) and ZoneAlarm )http://www.zonealarm.com/store/content/home.jsp) and run a full system scan.

Just download avast and let it run a boottime scan. It will fix your issues in no time. good luck

You know, there are thousands of viruses out there, being really gay, trying to hack into your stupid computer for no reason other than to provide entertainment to their creator. Of all of the viruses that I have experienced, TROJANS are the absolute WORST ones! Especially the ones that replace SYSTEM programs! Right now I am in Firefox (Safe Mode). This is the only way I can access the Internet. I am barely annoyed by it, but with all of the programs in the system operating like that, what do you DO!? No Zone Alarm, Mcafee, Spybot, or Norton scans/virus-removers are going to fix your programs right! All they do is locate files that are run seperately. If you have a trojan they won't do anything about it! It's like the impossible virus to fix! The only way to get your computer working right again is to reinstall it, or re-ghost the disk. My dad and I figured out that's the easiest thing to do. When you ghost a disk you make a copy of it and store it. Then, when you get a stupid virus like THIS ONE, all you do is copy your files onto a disk, re-ghost your hard drive, and upload from your disk to your computer again. This is a real pain, isn't it?

You could run a boot-time scan with an anti-virus (like avast! mentioned earlier).

Alternatively, you could take care of your computer, and not get it infested with malware. Just a thought.

deepod: I recommend NOD32. It's free, and it's very good. AVG has horrible heuristics. Basically, if it encounters something it recognizes as being malware, but can't identify it, it's not very good at stopping whatever that malware is trying to do to your PC.