The place I go to whenever I need help with my computer is http://www.spywareinfo.com . Go to http://www.spywareinfo.com. It's a great site that will help you figure out what it wrong with your computer if these following programs don't fix it for you. Click on Software to read about any of these programs I'm telling you about. I'm going to give you a ton of links, so just bear with me.
EVERY single software I mention below is FREE! I use every one, plus some, on my laptop and never have any problems. Hopefully, this will clean out your system.
I also recommend going to http://www.java.com and checking to see if you have the latest program. At the very left, there is a link that says "verify installation". This will check out your version for you.
For problems with the little red "x"s where your pictures are, go to http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=macromedia+flash+player&rs=0&ei=UTF-8 and make sure you have the latest flash player available.
Now, for house cleaning, go to http://www.ewido.net/en/download/ . Install ewido security suite. When installing, under "Additional Options" uncheck...Install background guard and Install scan via context menu. Launch ewido, there should be an icon on your desktop, double-click it. The program will now open to the main screen. When you run ewido for the first time, you will get a warning "Database could not be found!". Click OK. We will fix this in a moment.
You will need to update ewido to the latest definition files. On the left hand side of the main screen click update. Then click on Start Update.
The update will start and a progress bar will show the updates being installed (the status bar at the bottom will display ("Update successful").
Exit ewido. DO NOT scan yet.
Please download CCleaner from http://www.download.com/3120-20_4-0.html?tag=srch&nid=1&qt=ccleaner&tg=dl-20 , install it but do not run it yet.
Boot into Safe Mode:
Restart your computer and immediately begin tapping the F8 key on your keyboard. If done right a Windows Advanced Options menu will appear. Select the Safe Mode option and press Enter. For more detailed instructions please see this link: http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/tsgeninfo.nsf/doci...ment&src=sec_doc_nam .
Run CCleaner and clean out your Temporary and Temporary Internet Files.
Run ewido, click on the Scanner button in the left menu, then click on the Start button. This scan can take quite a while to run, so time to go get a drink and a snack....
If ewido finds anything, it will pop up a notification. You can select "remove" and check the boxes "Perform action with all infections" and "Create encrypted backup" before clicking on OK.
Reboot in Normal mode.
Go to http://housecall.trendmicro.com/ and run House Call.
Go to http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/ and download Spybot-Search & Destroy. A tutorial on using Spybot to remove spyware from your computer may be found here: http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/tutorial43.html . Please also remember to enable Spybot's "Immunize" and "TeaTimer" features.
Go to http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyI...a9671&displaylang=en and download Microsoft Anti-Spyware. I consider this the BEST antispyware program out there - and it's free!
Go to http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html and download Spyware Blaster. A tutorial on using SpywareBlaster to prevent spyware from ever installing on your computer may be found here: http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/tutorial49.html .
Go to http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareguard.html and download Spyware Guard. A tutorial on using SpywareGuard for realtime protection against spyware and hijackers may be found here: http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/tutorial50.html .
Keeping these programs up-to-date and running them regularly can prevent a great deal of spyware hassle.
If you need one, a good free firewall is ZoneAlarm at http://www.download.com/3120-20_4-0.html?tag=srch&nid=1...zonealarm&tg=dl-2001 . I now use this one over the one I paid money for. It doesn't let anything in.
If you need an antivirus program, AVG is awesome. Find it at http://www.download.com/3120-20_4-0.html?tag=srch&nid=1&qt=avg&tg=dl-20 .
If you are still having problems, visit http://forums.spywareinfo.com/ . Read the FAQ and they will get your computer going again for free. It might take a week or more, but doing the things above should get you running and then they can fix the detailed stuff.
I hope this helps you out with your overall computer perfomance.