Help With Some Form Of Spyware On My PC

Ive been scowering the web for some sort of clue as to what has lodged itself into my web browser and hopefully someone on this board can help me out.

The first thing I noticed is that random words on message boards and online journals have been hot linked to some sort of search engine. If I come to a webpage with a 404 not found error, or a similar error, the page also includes some sort of search criteria on the bottom. I also have been getting random pop up ads that stay on top of the screen until you close them out. All of the pop ups also have a little "not responding" icon in the top left of the window. Its also brings up a whole new window when I use any sort of search engine.

Ive never had problems with any sort of pop ups or spyware in the past and have had pretty decent results using AdAware. But, AdAware seems to be useless to what I have now. Its actually making my browser lag, which is really really frustrating. If anyone has any suggestions or knows whats going on, I would be very very greatful. Thanks in advance.
-Barrett-

 

please refer to the "only the best" threads below. There have been a large amount of people just coming down with this, including myself. So far I don't think anyone has had any luck.