My computer became badly infected with all sorts of adware, browser hijackers, you name it, to the point where it was unusable. I providentially found your website from another computer and followed some of the general advice and was able to clean a lot of the malware out, but I don't think I got it all. The most troublesome problem that remains is that I am unable to use the MS update site to get any patches or fixes. Whenever I try, the computer locks up for about 20-30 minutes while MS is supposedly checking my computer to see what I need. Eventually a screen is displayed that says something like "unable to get updates, check your settings", or something to that effect. After that the computer returns to normal… any applications I attempted to access during that 20-30 minute span of time suddenly open all at once. When I look in the task manager under processes while the computer is locked up, one of the "svchost" items is consuming all the processing power. When I look in the windows update log, I can see that the last time this computer successfully updated was on April 26, 2006. All attempts since then have failed. When I first boot up the computer, evidently windows update tries to do its thing and I cannot use the computer for any other function until that attempt has run its 30 minute course. Please help me?? Here is the HJT log:

Logfile of HijackThis v1.99.1
Scan saved at 5:33:52 PM, on 9/19/2006
Platform: Windows XP SP1 (WinNT 5.01.2600)
MSIE: Internet Explorer v6.00 SP1 (6.00.2800.1106)

Running processes:
C:\WINDOWS\System32\smss.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\winlogon.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\services.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\lsass.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\spoolsv.exe
C:\WINDOWS\Explorer.EXE
C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgamsvr.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgupsvc.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgemc.exe
C:\Program Files\ewido anti-spyware 4.0\guard.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgcc.exe
C:\Program Files\AIM\aim.exe
C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe
C:\HijackThis\HijackThis.exe

R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://www.google.com/
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Search,SearchAssistant = http://www.google.com/
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Search,CustomizeSearch = http://www.google.com/
F2 - REG:system.ini: UserInit=userinit.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [AVG7_CC] C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgcc.exe /STARTUP
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [MSMSGS] "C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe" /background
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [AIM] C:\Program Files\AIM\aim.exe -cnetwait.odl
O9 - Extra button: AIM - {AC9E2541-2814-11d5-BC6D-00B0D0A1DE45} - C:\Program Files\AIM\aim.exe
O15 - Trusted Zone: http://V4.Windowsupdate.microsoft.com
O15 - Trusted Zone: http://Windowsupdate.microsoft.com
O15 - Trusted Zone: http://Download.Windowsupdate.com
O23 - Service: AVG7 Alert Manager Server (Avg7Alrt) - GRISOFT, s.r.o. - C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgamsvr.exe
O23 - Service: AVG7 Update Service (Avg7UpdSvc) - GRISOFT, s.r.o. - C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgupsvc.exe
O23 - Service: AVG E-mail Scanner (AVGEMS) - GRISOFT, s.r.o. - C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgemc.exe
O23 - Service: ewido anti-spyware 4.0 guard - Anti-Malware Development a.s. - C:\Program Files\ewido anti-spyware 4.0\guard.exe
O23 - Service: InstallDriver Table Manager (IDriverT) - Macrovision Corporation - C:\Program Files\Common Files\InstallShield\Driver\11\Intel 32\IDriverT.exe