Yeah, you'll definitely like FF. I was a diehard IE user up until 8 months ago, and i haven't looked back. btw, the IE "add-on" that you mentioned... was it MYIE2 (Maxthon) by chance?
John, it sounds like you've still not gotten rid of your original problems but have just mostly stopped new ones from appearing. That's like putting a band-aid on a severed limb. here is a good article written by a friend of mine about spyware removal. It might be worth your time, if you...