oh wow. your analogy is eerily similar to a spiritual dream i had recently. yes, we are trying to shut down those programs that are afflicting our minds (the computer). they have wrecked havoc on us but as we heal we close more windows and can get the dang thing uninstalled. in my dream i was trying to find out the name of the program that was causing it all. the root of it so to speak. i think i have recently figured that out. i was also shown that it is causing me a lot of emotional instability so am looking forward to getting rid of the goober.

as for your actual computer if you do a search there are free programs to test for malware & viruses and they can sometimes remove the ads too. i did this a few years ago on my mac and it was no problem. also, don't click on those pop ups again! that is just going to make your computer problem worse. it's interesting how things in our physical lives can mirror what is happening with us psychologically.