Well it seems that with all our help you should be able to sort out your machine! I know a huge fuss is made over hackers getting into computer systems, but now you see why they do it. The internet is dominated by a computer program/s and a company that has put out a flawed product and expects everyone to suck the big one themselves if something is wrong with it. I have always used programs that have nothing to do with the big corporate softeware giants and have never had spyware, virus or other problems (touch wood ;-)) that sound as bad as yours...as for my wifes advice 'format c' and use firefox!!! Get someone in who knows what they are doing to fix the problems by reformatting your hard drive, don't let them install any unecessary programs...like IE. Use firefox and get the same person to set it up so you don't pick up extra junk, use the firewall, adblock etc. Finally, be very careful on which links you choose to look at, there are so many bogus ones out there. As for people complaining about ads...what ads? I don't see them...Yay for firefox!!! Wazzimodo

I had precisely the same situation: a store-bought plant that was doing great for a while under fluorescent light (a CFL in a gooseneck lamp), then the lower leaves started yellowing, showing spots, etc. I took a really close look under a low-power microscope, and found out I had mites. These little suckers are nearly transparent, unlike the black ones that are relatively easy to spot. I believe that the plant cuts off nutrients to the infested leaves as a defense mechanism, since the mites can't suck the juices from a dry leaf. Use a miticide if you're OK with chemical treatments; Bayer's 3-in-1 has a particularly effective agent in it. If not, or if your state hasn't approved the stuff for sale (you cannot buy it in NY), you can try my approach: fill a bucket with soapy water (dish detergent, ca. 1/2 tsp per gallon), and shove the entire plant, upside-down, into the water. Slosh it around, and up-and-down, for about a minute. This removes the bugs, drowns the ones who won't let go, and I think it might even damage the eggs (tiny white specks on the bottom of the leaves.) Repeat once a week for at least 3 weeks (the mites have a 10-day life cycle), and maybe once a month after that to keep 'em down. The mites prefer a dry environment, so this treatment, along with misting, will prevent them from doing noticeable damage. I think the real problem with keeping these plants indoors is that the mites are not exposed to their natural predators, so their population can explode very quickly. They are incredibly persistent, and they will keep coming back time and time again if you don't manage to kill off every last one of them (and every last egg as well!) Unless you like having ladybugs crawling around the house, you're stuck with regular washing, or chemical treatments, to keep them under control. Here is a link that might be useful: Article on Spider Mites

Unbeknownst to its users, Webshots employed its Webshots Desktop Application (a free program that users can download from their site to manage their online pictures) to install the Kiwee Toolbar as part of a software update for this program. Other than the Wikipedia article (whose references don't appear to have anything to do with the surreptitious installation of Kiwee) and complaints in support forums about problems getting it off a computer, I don't see anything about it being forced on users. Was it one of the many tools bars included with software that installed by default but unchecking a box provided an opt-out? I just don't know. Although several of the search hits I saw included the word "unbeknownst" which leaves me wondering if they were written by the same person or several people parroting the others. In any case, it seems more a case of poorly written code and even poorer judgment on the part of American Greetings than malware. American Greetings does offer instructions on how to remove Kiwee although it sounds like you need to install the latest, greatest version first. I'm not sure I'd be jumping at at offer. Gosh Durn Mike ~ Don't be so rude & judgemental! I didn't get "glitter text" intentionally. Do you have any idea of the number of computers I've looked at with upwards of a half dozen different tools bars installed? Every user claimed they never installed them. Yes they did, when the went click, click, click without bothering to read what was on the screen. Now maybe I got up on my soapbox a little too soon and American Greetings did install poorly written software on their customers' computers without their customers knowledge or consent. If that is the case, I would be writing a nice letter to Mr. Weiss letting him know why he won't be getting any more of my money. Even if it meant giving up a really pretty screen saver.

I don't believe your issue is with GW or iVillage. I don't have much to go on, but there's classic symptoms here. You're apparently using IE. Problem one. It's the slowest browser out there and swiss cheese for security. I'll venture a guess it's been a long time since you've done maintenance? Malware scan? Windows Updates? Do you have a firewall? Spywareblaster? Current definitions on everything? iVillage has a lot of trouble with corrupting cookies too so occasionally a corrupt cookie will cause a lot of troubles, and it's predominantly in the Internet Elephant. (I have no respect for that browser as you can tell, and for well-documented reasons.) Also have you tweaked any settings in there, assuming you use IE? A couple that help for several issues are to go into Internet Options/Advanced, scroll down almost all the way to the bottom and place a check in "Do not save encrypted pages to disk" and "Empty temporary internet files when browser is closed" (or wording to that effect). How much free space is on your drive? Have you done a disk check and defrag lately? I'm a solid fan of Opera with the content blocking. Chrome is my 2nd choice, K-meleon next and Firefox afterward. I use different browsers for different things but still Opera is 80% of my browsing, well more than that all together but I keep other browsers open for different things too and occasionally need a different browser for a different page. I have 1.5m DSL and often use dialup and opening pages that aren't filled with pictures is never a problem, but again, a faster browser makes a big difference, especially on dialup. Try some of these things. I'll bet your frustrations will drop dramatically.