Cable broadband

[speaky]

I have recently had cable broadband installed, however, when I first went online I managed to get a virus on my PC. I have since installed a firewall and a better antivirus but my PC won't connect to the internet. When I turn on the PC it tries to load a site that I have never been on before then Internet Explorer stops responding and I have to close it. Also my PC is very slow, it takes about 10 minutes just to load windows.
Can anyone tell me how do I get rid of the virus/spyware?
I want to go online to get software to check for spyware as I have noticed in my software list there is a new one for webrates but it won't let me uninstall.
I dont want to have to format the hard drive but would as a last resort!...

[davidw]

I love to use Hijack This (http://www.spychecker.com/program/hijackthis.html). Sounds like a Denial of Service attempt/attack as well.