IE freezing/ <unknown> in task manager

I think I've figured out a problem with a Windows ME machine that oringinally had some virus and spyware issues. The browsers IE and MSN would freeze when loading the first page. On the task manager would be IE or MSN not responding plus program . You could end IE but MSN would cause the blue screen to popup. If you started with IE and ended the task then you could get on with both browsers no problem. After days of looking at Highjackthis logs and trying to make sure all the viruses and spyware were removed I decided to turn off Active Desktop. Well I don't have the problem any more. So if you see running in the task manager try turning off Active Desktop, scanning for virus/spyware and update windows IE.