thedevil: Where do I find these spyware blocks you're talkin' 'bout? That sounds like it might work. I've never tried Doc, and I guess I won't, now that I know it allows in spy/adware.
oceanizer: I was using Spybot… But last I checked, IIRC, I couldn't get into it... Every time my virus detector... um... thing-a-ma-bob scans, I get 260 or so viruses found, with none fixed or deleted. So THAT apparently isn't working.
Cap'n: Downloaded it, ran it, down from around 75 entries to 9. THANK YOU. I'm pretty sure that'll help quite a bit.
Dingo: Hmm. Well, I may end up having to format the thing sooner or later; I can tell that much. System Restore sends your computer back to a certain point, right? My character flaw of "put-it-off... always" has probably screwed me there -- I don't remember back far enough when there wasn't all this crap. What's the term again? Pragmatist (no)? Pessimist (no)? My memory, as you may be able to tell, makes swiss cheese look more whole than a certain class of milk.
Sarquiss: Hmm. I'll have to bookmark that. Gave it a quick look-see, but the program I wanted to download (ZoneAlarm) didn't download for me (says the program isn't there).
Thanks, everyone! I'll be trying out what you've suggested.