Not just Start... everything along the bottom of the screen and everything on the desktop as well... just kind of goes 'poof!' randomly. I do know that my idiot little brother tried to download some "free" software over the summer while I was gone, and that's when the adware started popping up. The whole computer seems to be infested with adware and trojans now. Any advise on how to remove it? I keep my own computer well protected, so I don't have to worry about it myself...

My dad's probably going to wipe the harddrive and leave it unplugged for a while to reset all the numbers, but if there's anything I could do in the meantime, I'd appreciate any tips people have. This computer is my only way to get online right now... HELP!