hen performing a google search it will present me with various available choices, as it should. Then when I make a choice I end up some where else, unless I press the cached option. The problem is only present in Firefox.

I had this problem myself. I currently have Windows 7 starter on my laptop and when ever I used any browser (IE, MOZILLA, CHROME, OPERA) my google search results where hijacked and first redirected to boatresearch.com and then secondly redirected to another site. The second redirect was always to a different site. I have currently fixed this problem using combofix.exe which can be found here http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/combofix/how-to-use-combofix scroll down about 1/5th of the page and look for the section that says Using ComboFix and under the first paragraph you will see the download links. NOTE: ONLY DOWNLOAD COMBOFIX.EXE FROM BLEEPINGCOMPUTER.COM AS DIRECTED BY COMBOFIX.ORG also read the instructions before using it. you must close all programs and web browsers before launching it. once it is done extracting you will think that nothing happened but give it a minute as it runs out of the command prompt, it will first create a restore point and then it will start the 50 scan stages. don't be scared if the desktop disappears from time to time, this is normal. It may also make some minor changes to your internet settings such as changing your default browser to IE. When combofix is running try to leave the computer alone as it can take anywhere from 10-30 minutes depending on how badly infected the machine is. Once complete combofix will remove any files and folders it found to be infected and it will create a log for you. when combofix is done it will close automatically and the log will open up. check out the log and then restart your computer and you should be set to go. I hope I was able to help.