Well, I followed most of the instructions I found here (I left out one or two that I was afraid to try), and along with everything I tried yesterday (running four different spyware cleaning/blocking programs), I think (hope) the problem is fixed.

The high security due to changed Internet options is a little bit of a hassle (I had to exit and add blogger to the list of trusted sites), but it is better than not being able to use this machine, or having it freeze every two minutes, or getting a constant stream of ads that could care less about those lame pop-up controls.

Spammers, (paper) junk mailers, telemarketers, virus, trojan horse and parasite spreaders - screw you! Take that with a virtual rolled-up Biography Magazine!