internet explorer problems

[wooosh]

hiya. ive just had my pc upgraded from an old sh**y one to a decent one. had my OS 'Ghosted' over . win xp that is. been working great and had few problems bar some minor glitches in software which i have managed to sort myself.
until now
for some reason my internet explorer wont go to the sites i want it to after i do a google search.
the site listings come up after a particular search but when i click on a link i am directed to a completely different site.
has some settings been changed? do i have a virus thats not being picked up by my av program? do i have a search tool installed that i cant find?
any help would be appreciated

[glc]

1. Foul language, masked by ** or not, is not permitted here.

2. You need to do full malware scans. Browse some threads in the Security forum. I'd start with a full virus scan, update whatever antivirus you are using. Then I'd do a free online malware scan from www.ewido.net.

[wooosh]

1. i seriously apologise for the foul language. it wasnt meant to be abusive or offensive. if i offended anyone then i apologise profusely again.

2. thank you i will try those steps then get back if no help.

[wooosh]

tried those steps to no avail. have cleaned my whole system of malware spyware viruses trojans etc and still have the problem with spybot kicking out an error.
i have posted a thread in the security forum with no replies.
i have cleaned my registry and and something is still trying to change the search page, at least thats what i think is happening, i then turned off spybot and the error messages stopped (obviously).
i am running avg anti virus along side avg anti-spyware which i downloaded from the reccommended site above. neither of these are picking up any fault.
although i now dont seem to have a problem as such , i feel that there is still something lingering on my system which i cant find.
spybot knows its there and picks it up but no other program does. i am baffled.
i will continue to perservere and find this fault but dont have much confidence.
thx for the info and help

[wooosh]

tried those steps to no avail. have cleaned my whole system of malware spyware viruses trojans etc and still have the problem with spybot kicking out an error.
i have posted a thread in the security forum with no replies.
i have cleaned my registry and and something is still trying to change the search page, at least thats what i think is happening, i then turned off spybot and the error messages stopped (obviously).
i am running avg anti virus along side avg anti-spyware which i downloaded from the reccommended site above. neither of these are picking up any fault.
although i now dont seem to have a problem as such , i feel that there is still something lingering on my system which i cant find.
spybot knows its there and picks it up but no other program does. i am baffled.
i will continue to perservere and find this fault but dont have much confidence.
thx for the info and help