Yet another "Windows is driving me nuts" thread

[[vL]Kp]

Thanks, VL

vL is the clan tag. Kp is my handle.

I close stuff in Task Manager, and they open up again rather soon.

There are probably secondary processes spawning it, or it could be a helper file loaded into one of your otherwise legitimate processes. Process Explorer could show you ancestry, which might help. However, it sounds like this system has gone so far rogue that I would not like to spend much time running it. Although unpleasant, my preferred remedy at this point would be to boot to safe mode or an offline environment (difficult for Windows, unfortunately), copy what files you want, then wipe the system and reload it with a base XP image.

I suspect IE is the source of my problem.

IE is the source of many Windows users' problems. Whenever possible, avoid IE, especially if the user sitting at the console is not a technically minded sort. If IE is unavoidable (and it is for some sites), use the latest version of IE you can get for the host system. I believe IE8 is still usable on XP, though IE9 is planned not to be.

This is new. Had not had a problem for about 18 months with any virus ... I am convinced that the Missus did something that she isn't PC savvy enough to know was significant ... that hasn't helped my troubleshooting.

Although obviously a bit late now, try to get her to use a non-administrator account whenever possible. That will mitigate the damage that can be done if she gets tricked again.