Vista - Popup Blocker IE8 Problem

I am stumped. Any help would be appreciated!

Vista Home Premium with IE8. The owner had some spyware which changed some settings. I have patched it all up except for one thing.

When I go into Internet Options to turn on the popup blocker, the option is grayed out. At the bottom is a message which states that states that "some settings are managed by your system administrator".

This account is an administrator account and is the only one on the machine. I created another admin account and the problem does not exist in this other account, which tells me it is specific to this one account.

I am hesitant to go crazy with trying things since it isn't my computer. I don't mind scrapping the old account and creating a new one, but I need it to have the programs/settings/etc remain the same. If someone can give me some advice in this matter, it would be greatly appreciated.