Strange 'additions' to password on MSN (cant log in)

When i go to log into MSN messenger i enter my password and for some strange reason an extra character (asterisk) is added without my consent- cannot open MSN because of this.

Also, when i access Hotmail account thru. browser i can access my account when i click to 'open new messages' it returns me to the 'log in' page.....

AVG is used and updated daily...... current version.

Also when i open IE it opens to the 'Apache Tom Cat' page...


Cheers in advance for any help guys

Cusackotg

Have you tried using antispyware like AdWare and Spybot?

we did this with these results

Well after a long headache inducing process we did the following and things are nearly back to normal, ran spyware nuker which found some nasties, but were still unable to get into hotmail or into messenger, then emptied the cache, deleted all cookies, deleted all saved passwords in IE7 and mozilla, changed the connection to a proxy server, we were then able to access messenger and hotmail. But, there always has to be a but, accessing the hotmail account works fine, accessing messages sends you back to the log in page, by clicking back one page then clicking new messages again, we are sent back to the log in page, so back one page, click new messages and whoa, they open, this process has to be repeated for each new message. Strange or what, and there are still some sites that will not allow access. Any other ideas on what is going on or how to end this curse other than a new account would be muchly appreciated. Final note, We have no problem getting into hotmail, messenger on other machines, and other people can access their accounts no problem on our machine, AAAAAAAhhhhhhhhhhh, Microsoft.
Cheers
Constanttweaker