Are you taking about "Gator" or any of the other spyware programs that come with "free utilities"? Just a warning to everyone: when you click on a banner ad on MSN or Yahoo or CNN and then download a little "utility" (like a "clock updater" or "4,000 free smilies"), you will probably get spyware like "Gator". These programs watch which websites you go to and pop-up advertising windows based on your preference. (No, there is no "no pop ups" preference.) These programs may even hijack the banner ads on the websites- a banner on this site may be replaced by a company who is a client of the Gator software. You can use programs like Ad-Aware or Spybot to clean your machine, but they may not find every entry made by the spyware program.