I seem to have downloaded a lot of adware by accident a few weeks ago. This happens from time to time and I just go to control panel and remove all programs added after the time the problem began. I did that this time and it helped but there seems to be some residual adware that wasn't removed. I googled some of the websites that seem to be popping up all the time and there is lots of advice online about what you need to remove to get rid of them. The problem is that none of the programs listed actually seem to be in my control panel and I can't see anything that's been added since the problem started.
Also, control panel no longer comes up when searching using the windows button then F. I can still get to it by typing "uninstall a program" so it's not that big an issue but I thought I'd mention it as I think it might be related. Any ideas anyone?
I would strongly recommend downloading MalwareBytes AntiMalware from here Just click the orange free download button, install (make sure not to leave trial pro version ticked towards the end of the install)it & let it update it's definitions file & then run a full scan.
Check the list it shows when the scan has finished & let it remove what it finds, it will likely ask you to reboot so it can finish cleaning the adware.
If in doubt post a screen shot of the scan findings here & myself or someone else will help you.
A couple of times adware slowed down the home PC. The proposed solutions of removing the program and Malwarebytes usually works for removing the adware and virus. www.lavasoft.com has Ad Aware which is useful for removing the adware, too.
One infection corrupted the operating system.
Downloading Norton's bootable iso Anti-Virus image onto another computer. Burning the iso image to a DVD. Then, booting the DVD removed the adware and virus. After the adware and virus were removed, system critical functions were still disabled. The original installation disks or recovery media repaired or installed the operating system (XP or Vista) back to full functionality.
I have yet to witness this severe of a problem on Windows 8.1.