I would download adaware again (download.com has it - they also have spybot) and it sounds like you may have had some other program named Stinger. Get the correct one here:
http://vil.nai.com/vil/Stinger/
After you got those, reboot in safe mode (press F8 while booting - press it a whole bunch if you're not sure when), and then run those three programs. Keep in mind that Stinger has no update feature so it needs to be re-downloaded everytime they update it. The above site lists the update date - currently 09/28/2004.
My former co-worker now has an entire website devoted to his security info -
http://securitytango.com/. Links to software are under 'Let's Dance'.