I wanted to write about a bit of spyware history and evolution here, but I think we all know a lot about the problem already. Spywares are annoying, widespread and dangerous.
And hard to get rid of. Today spyware writers are becoming quite good at hiding spyware activity and making sure that an infected computer remains infected. A common approach is to change the winlogon notify registry key to run malware code on every single user login. Yes, even if you start windows in safe mode you have to log in, and if a program is loaded you cannot easily remove it from the computer.