Hey all!
Thanks for all the feedback!
@Jtaylor83: I ran the remover.exe, but it didn't output anything. It said the MBR status was "OK (DOS/Win32 Boot code found)" <--in green. Does that sound alright? I'm also planning on getting Windows 7 at my EARLIEST convenience. I am between jobs at the moment, so that makes it difficult to feasibly spend that much on a new operating system. Rest assured, however, that I DO plan on upgrading soon!
@essexboy: I had wound up reformatting my main drive twice fully before Windows would install again!
So far, iexplore.exe has not come back. I'm not sure whether the problem is fixed, but it is gone at the moment. Are there any opinions out there as to whether it is gone for good? Are there any extra steps I need to take in order to protect myself?
I plan on downloading avast and zone alarm again (as they worked well before).
Also, I have a second internal hard drive that no temp files or windows system files are stored on. Scans with malwarebytes, trojan hunter, and superantispyware turned up negative on that drive. Is it safe to assume that it is clean or should I take extra steps before reconnecting it to my computer?
Thanks again to everyone who responded...I really appreciate the help!