My wife thought it would be nice to download a nice Christmas desktop background to suprise me, and surpised I was! When I got home, I asked her; "what's this?" She said "I hope you like it!"
Liked it? My CPU temp, which normally runs in the high 40s, was pushing 60, my apps opened slower than a 486, my 1.5 DSL connection seemed like it was dial-up, and I had Zone Alarm warnings popping up like they were balloons at a fair.
The long and short of it? 186 pests confirmed by Pest Patrol, Spybot wore itself out with a bunch of others, and Adaware caught the rest. Spyware Blaster and Spyware Guard must have been asleep during the whole episode, and I'm thinking they're next to useless...
Presently, CPU temp: 47 degrees, apps open like a rocket, and all is back to normal. Be careful. Be VERY careful.