Chip, none of those spyware programs work with most of the hijackers. These evil things corrupt your registry and they are VERY hard to get rid of. Even if you do remove the programs with a spyware program, there is a hidden file that reinstalls them right away.
Editing to add, if your computer guy can figure out who originally created and sent a virus in an email, he should be working for Microsoft or the FBI!! He would be a millionaire!!
