Virus scanners operate by searching your harddisk(s) for files which might be infected by a virus. This method is never 100% secure, since only known viruses (or known virus patterns) are detected. If an infection has been detected in a certain file, the virus scanner might be able to clean the file, but very often this is not the case. In that case, you can try another scanner to clean the file, you can try to replace the file or - as a last resort - delete it. However, if many important operating system files are affected, it might be the best solution to reformat the harddisk and install the operating system from scratch.There are even viruses can not be cleaned by mere hard-disk reformatting. E.g. so-called boot-viruses infect the boot-sector of disks, and will very often not be removed by simply reformatting the harddisk. In this case you will need to repair the boot-sector, a good utility for this can be found in Norton Utilities (not free).
Some Outlook and Outlook express versions are very vulnerable to virus attacks through email. Several versions of Outlook and Outlook Express can execute malicious scripts or programs hidden inside emails sent to you without warning. A patch for Outlook Express to diminish this security risk can be found on the Microsoft Web site.Patches for Outlook and Outlook Express can also be found here. The VCATCH program can protect both Outlook and Outlook Express from virus emails.
These sites offer non-free Outlook protection software:ScanMail Slipstick systemsAVPNemx
Other Removal Options You can always check the Add/Remove Programs section of Windows to see if any adware or spyware is listed. Some of the quasi-legitimate adware programs may include uninstallers, but malicious pests do not. There is a fairly complete list of adware programs, what they do, and how to manually remove them (if possible) at http://doxdesk.com/parasite/. TOP CONTENTS
You can always check the Add/Remove Programs section of Windows to see if any adware or spyware is listed. Some of the quasi-legitimate adware programs may include uninstallers, but malicious pests do not.
There is a fairly complete list of adware programs, what they do, and how to manually remove them (if possible) at http://doxdesk.com/parasite/.