I was using Chrome when suddenly the IE window popped up with warnings that “windows reports that computer is infected.” Other antivirus alerts pop up. The spyware is Antivir solution; when I clicked on their popup, I got their site which was, of course, a selection of spyware packages to buy. I tried everything to get rid of this, and it won’t let me do anything! (I’m in safe mode now.) It’s done it several times since I’ve been writing this, and I close the IE window. Would it help to remove IE? I don’t use it much, but you need it for some things. HELP!
Also, I am pretty sure it is not possible to fully remove IE from Windows computers.
Great! I just printed out the instructions and will give it a try. Thanks.
Good luck and do be sure to report back with a brief summary of your findings and conclusions. Punctuation counts. 
Just finished a full scan with malwarebytes, which found infections and removed them, and all seems back to normal. Findings: my computer was infected by a b.s. virus protection service and malwarebytes (which I already had) found it and removed it. Conclusions: (1) you can find a fix for just about anything, especially computers, online, and (2) when stumped, go to straightdope.com where there’s always someone to help you. Thanks a million.
P. S. The process was a bit longer than implied above, as I used the instructions from the link you provided to be able to use my malwarebytes. Thanks again.