>I am not looking into writing a new solution. What I am looking for is a spyware removal expert's general procedure in removing spyware. What tools do they use, and in what order.

Hi Mike. If AdAware and SpyBot cannot remove it then throwing more of the same type of tool at the problem is probably not going to fix it. Any 0-day attack is going to probably get past the common defences including popular adware/malware programs.

The thing is to subcribe to just a couple recognized good products (which you already do), av sofwtare, anti-trojan, adware/malware. Then a software firewall, like ZoneAlarm, and hardware firewall config including the possibility of employing white list only approach. Proper o/s patching routine and finally user education.

Will something get through? Yes, eventually. Becuase security is a chain and the weakest link will probably be your end-users. Plus the fact that av and adware/malware removal tools are reactive and not proactive.