System gets sick...

It all started when I let my sister use my computer for a minute (just to check her mail and such). She swears that she never downloaded anything, but when I got back, there was some prog from the Gator corp. (wich name I only see in Internet pop-ups) on my comp. From that moment, every time I log in, all my desktop icons (except for the 'default' ones: My computer, Network, Recycle bin etc...) have a solitaire icon placed on top of them! Also, after a time (an hour, maybe) the system gets laggy, it closes every IE window and download, and removes all the icons from the desktop. The Start menu works fine, but the whole system is slower. That can be fixed by a reboot, but the next time I log on, it just starts all over again.

I tried to uninstall the Gator program, but it said it can only be removed in the Add/Remove programs list, where it does not appear. So, I deleted the dirs and removed its stuff from the registry, but the problem still occures. Help is very appreciated.

gator has always been a problem. i wish i could attack them or something.

First off.. download programs like "Spy Sweeper" and "Ad-aware" and RegCleaner" if you dont already have them. Do thorough searches for spyware, adware etc.

If you have done all of this and still nothing, take mor edrastic action.

I have downloaded ad-aware and made a scan on my hard drive, it found some stuff from gator and also a number of tracking cookies. However, the problem still exists. What freaks me out is that I even deleted sol.exe (its icon is placed on others), and it still found the icon and placed on top of the originals!

I really don't want to reinstall Windows...

Try: Spy Sweeper

And you need to get a registry cleaner, to completelty remove any registry of the "unwanted" stuff..

Check out this list.. Download any one you think might work.

Keep trying...

adaware and spybot s&d are the ones that really do the most. both are free, so get em.

its best to have all three.. cause i have noticed that some things arent found with one that the other may find.. weird..

Heh, ad-aware found 35 files (most of them tracking cookies and Gator) Spy-Sweeper found 8 cookies... and the solitaire icons are still there!
Also, could anyone tell me the point of a registry cleaning application not being able to clean the registry?

okay i can understnad all that gator shit.. but the reason you have solitaire all over your icons i cannot say at all.. Something on your computer must be totally FUCKED up.. Im sorry but i dont know how i can help anymore without actually looking at hte problem myself.