One day later, I found that my computer would not respond upon startup--Windows background is present, but clicking the mouse has no affect, and the cursor turns into an hourglass when down near the bottom of the screen. The only way that I can get the computer to respond is to do a start with Safe Mode and do a system restore using the Sbybot-created checkpoint. And I have to do this each time I start the computer! Did I delete something I shouldn’t have with Spybot or Ad-aware, or are all of my problems related to a virus/spyware? The mysterious program is still running--I see the icon appear on the task bar every 10 minutes or so, but it disappears very quickly. The computer works fine, as long as I don’t shut it off! Upon restart, I again encounter the same unresponsiveness and must enter from Safe Mode in order to do another system restore from the same point.
Upon advice from a friend, I entered "sysedit' in the Start--> Run box, and the config.sys and autoexec.bat files are empty. Is this normal?
I am also using a program called Security Task Manager, and it has identified two potential problems: C:\Windows\adsldpbc.dll and C:\Windows\System\st3.dll. Are these spyware programs that should be deleted? (Considering the problem that occurred shortly after I removed files with Spybot, I’m now worried about deleting files that should not be deleted!)
My operating system is Windows XP Professional, I have updated with Service Pack 2, and the most recent Windows update. My Norton Antivirus is set for automatic updates and automatic scans, so I thought I was safe! Thank you so much for any assistance!!!