Spyware: Somebody's having problems with memory and asked me to what to do about Spyware, and pop-ups and that kind of nonsense.

Here's some useful stuff:

First, if what you're seeing is something that looks like a regular Windows window with a message in it (it usually says "Messenger Service" at the top) go here or here for instructions on how to stop it without a firewall. Unfortunately, it looks like a firewall is the only way to stop it in Windows 98.

As for spyware, adware, and other "malware" this site has a pretty good list of different kinds of it, and where it comes from. It's in everything from the obvious stuff (Kazaa, games like "Osama, Yo Mama, dialers) to the not-so-obvious (Net2Phone software).

However, that list is pretty big and unwieldly. This site is one of the best sites for info that I found. Not only does it contain a searchable database, but it also contains an online spyware scan. If it finds spyware or adware on your system (It found Cydoor on mine, which I probably got from Kazaa) it also gives you details on how to remove it (like this).

Now, spyware isn't always the reason for poor system performance. In fact, even hardware can cause performance problems if it's faulty.

But if you've got a list of the processes that are running, (the ones that show up when you hit crtl-alt-del on newer windows programs, or the "performance monitor" on older ones, you can go to a list like this one, and see what the program is that's using up all your memory. (For me, it's always DadTray.exe, which fortunately it says I can disable at will.) Just about every entry links to their software, but it's still good info.

Hope that helps!