Tentatively, and with some reservation, I'd like to celebrate. I believe that I've successfully removed the virus that was affecting my computer.
After trying nearly every resource, and spending hours researching the Internet and reading forums like this one, I was able to find a tool called "combofix" (you can Google for it, but it's only associated with bleepingcomputer(dot)com, and often masquerades under this name as a virus on other sites). This tool came with many disclaimers about the sensitivity of the rootkit viruses that it specializes in cleaning, and recommends that it only be used when recommended by an expert.
However, I was desperate, so I regarded the disclaimers, and went ahead at my own risk. Fortunately, after several reboots, it claimed to have cleaned some files from my computer, and since then, I no longer have the browser redirect problem.
Thanks for all the advice from these forum users. If you are having browser redirect problems, I highly suggest reading the forums from the website mentioned above. They were really helpful in finding users with similar issues, and I heeded the advice given in those similar cases.
Hopefully, the virus is gone for good, but I am going to change all my bank account passwords from another computer, as recommended by the experts on that forum. Apparently, some versions of rootkit viruses can send personal information over the Internet, and leave a person vulnerable to identity or bank account theft - and I don't want to take any chances.
Again, thanks to all for the advice. After 10 different virus checking programs, none of them were able to solve this problem, except for one. Viruses have clearly evolved to insane levels of complexity and insidiousness. I hope others can solve their problems as well.
