60% of PCs have hardware that is unsupported by linux.
75% of PC applications do not have a linux equivalent.
90% of users don’t want to do *any* OS configuration, even if it means that they aren’t running a secure system.

If you sincerely think that linux-based systems are the solution for the masses, perhaps you mistook this site for slashdot, in which case, you should go back to your parents’ basement.

You have only 2 real options when your AV doesn’t work:

1) Hire a PC support technician who has a clue and has the utilities enabling him to find and identify and remove the offending program using a boot CD running Linux or a bootable version of Windows such as the Ultimate Boot CD For Windows.

2) Format the hard drive and reinstall everything.

Your choice.

I have removed upwards of 900 pieces of spyware from one machine for some of my clients. It can take four to eight hours of work or longer to clean a machine so heavily loaded with spyware that the machine is running slowly or not at all. Even Microsoft techs these days recommends a reformat rather than trying to clean a system. And if you have a rootkit, it’s nearly impossible to get rid of it without reformatting.

But you have to have a backup to do that – and you have to know your backup hasn’t been infected as well. Since most viruses don’t infect pure “data” files, it’s always best to completely separate your data files from your C: drive, so that your backup is less likely to have infected executables on it. Most viruses and spyware don’t search additional partitions or drives for files to infect, so unless you downloaded a file with a false extension that masquerades as a data file while actually being an executable, you should be reasonably safe.

The two main things you can do to prevent spyware:

1) Don’t run Internet Explorer – ANY version, including IE8. Run Firefox which does not run Active X controls.

2) Do NOT click on ANYTHING you didn’t explicitly ask for from a Web site. READ and know what you’re doing when on a Web site. Even “legit” Web sites these days can be infected with malware that can be transmitted via Active X or JavaScript to your system merely by visiting the infected page.

And the fellow who recommended switching to Linux is entirely correct. Linux is virtually unaffected by malware. So is the Mac. If you’re not mandated by a corporation – who should be learning that expending their capital making Bill Gates the richest guy in the world is not a productive use of their capital – to have to run Windows, you would be well advised to switch. If necessary, get a nice powerful current machine, run Linux or Mac OS X on it, and if you need Windows, run it in a virtual machine on top of the other OS.

Windows is insecure and will remain so.