I gave up and reformatted but I’m not entirely sure its gone because the same thing has happened twice now! Good news is the computer starts up into windows, here’s the hijackthis log. see anything out of the ordinary?

Logfile of HijackThis v1.99.0
Scan saved at 7:46:45 AM, on 1/26/2005
Platform: Windows XP (WinNT 5.01.2600)
MSIE: Internet Explorer v6.00 (6.00.2600.0000)

Running processes:
C:\WINDOWS\System32\smss.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\winlogon.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\services.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\savedump.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\lsass.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\spoolsv.exe
C:\WINDOWS\Explorer.EXE
C:\Program Files\Creative\SBAudigy LS\Surround Mixer\CTSysVol.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\ALWILS~1\Avast4\ashDisp.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\RUNDLL32.EXE
C:\Program Files\Creative\MediaSource\GO\CTCMSGo.exe
C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\aswUpdSv.exe
C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\ashServ.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\CTsvcCDA.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\nvsvc32.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\MsPMSPSv.exe
C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe
C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\ashMaiSv.exe
C:\Documents and Settings\René\Desktop\HijackThis.exe

R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://dsl.sbc.yahoo.com/
O3 - Toolbar: &Radio - {8E718888-423F-11D2-876E-00A0C9082467} - C:\WINDOWS\System32\msdxm.ocx
O4 - HKLM..\Run: [NvCplDaemon] RUNDLL32.EXE C:\WINDOWS\System32\NvCpl.dll,NvStartup
O4 - HKLM..\Run: [nwiz] nwiz.exe /install
O4 - HKLM..\Run: [CTSysVol] C:\Program Files\Creative\SBAudigy LS\Surround Mixer\CTSysVol.exe /r
O4 - HKLM..\Run: [UpdReg] C:\WINDOWS\UpdReg.EXE
O4 - HKLM..\Run: [avast!] C:\PROGRA~1\ALWILS~1\Avast4\ashDisp.exe
O4 - HKLM..\Run: [KernelFaultCheck] %systemroot%\system32\dumprep 0 -k
O4 - HKCU..\Run: [MSMSGS] “C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe” /background
O4 - HKCU..\Run: [NvMediaCenter] RUNDLL32.EXE C:\WINDOWS\System32\NVMCTRAY.DLL,NvTaskbarInit
O4 - HKCU..\Run: [Creative MediaSource Go] C:\Program Files\Creative\MediaSource\GO\CTCMSGo.exe /SCB
O4 - HKCU..\Run: [AIM] C:\Program Files\AIM\aim.exe -cnetwait.odl
O4 - Global Startup: Adobe Gamma Loader.lnk = C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Calibration\Adobe Gamma Loader.exe
O4 - Global Startup: Microsoft Office.lnk = C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office10\OSA.EXE
O8 - Extra context menu item: E&xport to Microsoft Excel - res://C:\PROGRA~1\MICROS~2\Office10\EXCEL.EXE/3000
O9 - Extra button: AIM - {AC9E2541-2814-11d5-BC6D-00B0D0A1DE45} - C:\Program Files\AIM\aim.exe
O16 - DPF: {D27CDB6E-AE6D-11CF-96B8-444553540000} (Shockwave Flash Object) - https://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab
O23 - Service: avast! iAVS4 Control Service - Unknown - C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\aswUpdSv.exe
O23 - Service: avast! Antivirus - Unknown - C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\ashServ.exe
O23 - Service: avast! Mail Scanner - ALWIL Software - C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\ashMaiSv.exe
O23 - Service: Creative Service for CDROM Access - Creative Technology Ltd - C:\WINDOWS\System32\CTsvcCDA.exe
O23 - Service: NVIDIA Driver Helper Service - NVIDIA Corporation - C:\WINDOWS\System32\nvsvc32.exe