Geoff -

No intention to insult your understanding. I just thought that noting the amount of updating you might encounter might be of interest.

With respect to HiJack This:

There are several sites available where you can:

1. Run current AdAware SE
2. Run current Spybot S&D
3. Run Hijack This and save the log.
4. Post the log at the website and request advice.

"Experts" at the site can use your log, produced by Hijack This, to identify "things that shouldn't be there," and can give you specific instructions on what to do and what to click (and what not to) in order to get things in order. The main purpose is to help people with spyware and/or other malware that isn't detected and removed by the conventional programs.

As an "amateur" you can look at an archived HiJack This log and compare what was running at the time you made the log (presumedly when everything was working) to a fresh log made when you find a problem. You may find something simple - like a new program you've installed - that you can just uninstall to see if the problem goes away, or a process that you can remove from the Start Up folder to try to fix things, so you can make some use of it if you make a log to use for reference before problems come up.

HiJack This is a very powerful Registry Editor, so the advice that you don't try to use it directly to try to make fixes, unless you really understand the Registry, is valid. Having it on your machine before you have a problem, and having a "reference log" that it's written when everything worked, can be a way of finding what's changed, and a way to provide help for any "local experts" you might need to call. You can use conventional methods, like uninstalling a program or just ending the process in Task Manager to try out fixes that the log suggests might be questionable; but attempting to use Hijack This directly as a registry editor - it's main purpose - can be hazardous.

If you really want an idea of what the program is good for, one of several sites you might check out is at:

Tom Coyote.

Plan on a couple of hours to read all of the instructions if you want to understand the process. This, like other similar sites, is a "volunteer" site, and deserves to be treated with respect by observing the rules. There are actually quite a few sites much like this one, but it's one I have bookmarked for the "just in case" situations.

(You should follow the instructions, and run current Ad-Aware SE and current Spybot S&D immediately prior to running Hijack This to make your archive log, just so there's not a lot of extraneous junk in the log.)

John