Thought that I should add.. in case other people recieve the same bug package as described above, how I got rid of it.
The bug worked by disconnecting my antivirus ( Norton and then McAfee) from the computer.
I was blocked from restoring the computer, and then began to recieve erroneous ( but convincing) updates from aol, microsoft and Norton.( my formats). At first, these were choice installations, but then went to auto install.
I then downloaded Avira antivirus, the A.squared free scanner and pc doctor. Though my computer was running slow and I appeared to be being prevented from downloading antivirus / repair downloads.
Having isolated everything,( messenger, explorer, hp update , msn etc.) I used Avira, A.squared and pcd, to semi destroy the bug and then spent many hours manually picking out any files relating to the dates of infections.
Hope this helps.