If your finding this amount of problems in your system, you may be at a point where an entire re-format and re-install of the Operating System is required. Windows update will help minimize some of the chances of getting a few of the nastier virus' but it's not certain at this point.
Some people prefer Mozilla because it doesn't come with a lot of the vulnerabilities that IE does. The thing to keep in mind is that Mozilla doesn't have nearly the amount of users that IE does. Should Mozilla ever have the numbers that Internet Explorer does then it will be hacked and exploited equally.
Ask your internet service provider if they provide you with a software firewall, many of them do these days. Essentially, a firewall makes it a little more difficult for someone to take over your computer or hack into your system than without. Firewall doesn't help at all with virus' as far as I know, that's all handled by software. I believe Hardware Firewall's (like a router) are more effective than software but it certainly can't hurt to have both.
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