Adware is causing all of my searches to be redirected. How do I remove it?

Question

So.. yesterday the popular "Virus Scan XP 2008" got onto my computer for the second time... It got onto my computer while I was on YouTube this time. The last time I got rid of it by using system restore. Sadly that wasn't an option this time since I was unable to restore to a previous date.

Thanks to something called "SmitFraudFix" I was able to get rid of it... I think.

Now I have one remaining problem. "Adware". Whenever I use the browsers Opera or Firefox, my searches via "Google" "Yahoo" etc.. get redirected to irrelevant sites. What's weird is I don't have this problem with internet explorer. Nonetheless, I have to get rid of this problem somehow.

I've been recommend something called "Spybot Search & Destroy" but for some reason it's not connecting to the server it needs to connect to during installation resulting in me not being able to use it.

I'm also having the same problem with "Spyware Doctor". On some sites it's preventing me from downloading, Spyware and Adware removers. This has because a huge headcase, and I have have absolutely no idea what to do now.

I seriously need help, because I'm losing my mind.

Answer 1

Instead of Spybot S&D, I would recommend  Superantispyware and/or Malwarebytes Anti-Malware to remove the search hijacker.

> Superantispyware: http://www.superantispyware.com

> Malwarebytes anti-Malware: http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php

Instead of using Firefox or Opera, use Internet Explorer to download them; if you are still having trouble with the downloads, try to access them while in safe mode *with networking*.

> How to start in safe mode: http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorial...

Answer 2

Download spybot seek and destroy