Why am I getting pop-up ads even when offline?

I have a Gateway 500 series desktop running Windows XP, with McAfee Total Protection software, as well as free versions of Ad-Aware and Spybot S %26 D. I run these programs, but McAfee keeps finding "Tagasaurus" eventhough it appears to remove it each time. I get as many as 20+ Site Advisory Warnings and pop-ups while the computer is offline and idle. I regularly have to go into the Task Manager and end suspicious processes, though it can be difficult to determine which processes are suspect. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thanks- Don

Why am I getting pop-up ads even when offline?norton ghost

No antivirus or antispyware protection is perfect, not even the expensive ones but a good mixture will help you clean your system and hopefully keep it clean. It is advisable not to run two or more anti virus applications as they may interfere with one another and cause false alerts.

As the biggest of the problems seem to be associated with Spyware, for starters, download, update and run a full scan using the following product:

http://www.superantispyware.com/

SuperAntiSpyware is exceptional and will remove the majority of difficult Trojans and Worms, not just the easy ones.

If possible it is recommended that you load the application in normal mode but run it in Safe Mode. Safe Mode can be started by continually pressing F8 during the boot sequence. If you are badly infected you might need to run SuperAntiSpyware more than once to help clean your system. If the only infections now being shown are in System Restore, once you are completely satisfied that you can boot normally, you can either delete the infected restore points manually, or temporarily turn off System Restore.