"SherryB" wrote in message
...
I'm the one with the "SpyBot killed my computer" thread going on.
Assuming I
get things back to normal again (big assumption right now =:-O), then
what?

OK, now that we know you got it back on its feet, it's time for the "now
what?"

This computer has not had virus protection for about 6 months on
cablemodem,
and although it has SpyBotS&D and AdAware's latest versions installed
on it,
they appear to never have been ran. How can I back up the system
state in 98
so that I can avoid such a huge crash when removal tools don't work?

By imaging the partition. There is no "System Restore" in Windows 98.
Scanreg saves a few critical configuration files (Registry, System.ini,
Win.ini and maybe MSDOS.SYS) but that is scant protection.

Should
I run SpyBot again on it? Or switch to AdAware?

Spybot *should* be OK if all you run is a normal scan, not Immunize or
Tea TImer, etc. But another person just posted who had the *exact* same
problem you did after running Spybot, so I have to wonder. Did you
*only* run the scanner and remove the items it suggested?

AdAware is much safer than Spybot. Yes, I would run it.

Should I run another
antivirus scanner on it first? I also have AVG free edition, should I
install that on there first and scan? Do you guys know of a better
way?

You previously said that it had no AV installed. True? If so, then you
have to install *something*. AdAware and Spybot are *not* antivirus
applications.

I've never had so much trouble cleaning a machine, but I guess I've
never
seen one so badly infected. :-(

See my articles:

"Clean Boot--What it is and why you need it."
http://grystmill.com/articles/cleanboot.htm

"Security!"
http://grystmill.com/articles/security.htm

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS MVP Shell/User