Hi townsbg,
Yes, I started a new thread in the Spyware/Malware section of the forum, and Broni is on the case. In safe hands.
Thanks for your help too!

No problem. Let us know if that isn't your problem.

Hi townsbg,
We have got as far as establishing that I have a rootkit, and a bad sector on the C drive, and I feel kind of shattered. I have read that the mere suspicion of a rootkit is enough for some people to do a clean install, and Broni agrees that once you have a rootkit you can never be 100% certain of the drive. So a clean install on to a new drive, O joy. and I will have to create new passords for everything, after I redid all of them just a week ago.
It is not reinstalling Windows that sucks, that is 45 minutes to an hour. It is the following 6 hours of reinstalling the other software, restoring backed up email and browser settings ... boring!
If Broni is agreeable we will do some more scans to see if the rootkit is the cause of the Recycle Bin problems. I do regular scans with other apps for spyware and viruses, and none of those has found more than a tracking cookie. I now don't accept cookies from IMDB, SuperAntiSpyware was finding them in the weirdest places, such as the Application Data for Photoshop CS3, which I rarely use.
If anything noteworthy results I will let you know.
Once again thanks for your help, this is one fine forum.