I normally access the internet via IE, with Google as my home page. Last night the computer went directly to a screen saying I'm infected with spyware and offering me a link to download and do a scan. I scanned with AdAware last night but still got the same screen this morning. The address is homepage.mail-hosting.com. I'm have Netscape, too, and that's what I'm using now. Should I download and use that scan? What else to do!! Thanks.

The way I see it, is that your homepage ,somehow has been swapped by this "spyware offer" as your new homepage.

Log on the internet as usual,using IE as your browser, you will get to that new page, then type in the "address window" the page you want to see, which would be, in your case, http://www.google.com, click "go" then when the "google" page appears,click up there on "tools", then click "internet option" then under "homepage" you should see the address you just typed in (google). Click, next to it, "use current" and bottom right click "apply" and "ok". Google will reappear as your homepage.

Log off from the internet and try it again!

If mozart56's suggestion does not resolve the problem, I suggest you check to see if your browser has been hijacked. Click on this address and see if it reports a hijack. If it does, it will provide you with removal instructions. Doxdesk.com

If that doesn't solve the problem, my next suggestion is do download and run the Hijack This utility program. Click here, then click on the Hijack This.zip file. If you have trouble opening the file, see below:

Please note: You will need a decompression utility to open the file. WinXP has one built in, but older systems don't. One you can use is at http://winzip.com

Once you have opened the Hijack This program scan you system and create a Hijack This log file. You can open the log file in Notepad (Start/Programs/Accessories/Notepad), then copy/Paste the file into a post here. We can take a look it and make recommendations to you about which entry's should be removed.

I caution you to be careful with the Hijack This. Don't remove anything unless you're sure about what the item is. Don't take someone's advice about removing anything unless they can provide enough information about it to reassure yourself that they really know what it is.

Also, unzip the program file into it's own folder so that the "Undo" file is easily found, should you need it.

I hope this will help!

Dwight