Mysteriously Installd New Programs, Vanished Network Adapter, Then Death

I run xp pro. everything was fine saturday, then today things just went from bad to wors. 1st I was unable to connect to the internet. I called verizon, and they were unable to help me. When i logged on, I noticed there were new programs installed I knew nothing about.. (2 of them, one being some on screen keyboard thing , the other was some speech thing.) Anyway, my network adapter seemed to have vanished. So, I did a system restore, from like a week ago. Still no network, but th new programs seemed to be gone. Tried different stuff trying to connect, with no luck. (i did eventually find network adapter in "hidden devices" in device manager. was not able to make it work. Then I shut it down. I noticed that the shut down wasnt how it usually looks... it went to a box with a drop down menu with shut down, hibernaTE, or restart as options. I then went ahead and shut it down. Then, when I started it up again, it looked different also.. and it took me to a windows password box. It had my name already in the top box, and wantd my password. I have NEVER used this windows password thing before. I am using the same computer I have used since long before i ever even joing major geeks. This is my same pc i asked questions about in the past. I always have used the same password on everything for years, but it isnt the right one... (i guess i have used variations of it before, but none of them are it.) So now, i am stuck, cannot even get into my pc, and very depressed. using friends puter now. Any suggestions? Please help!! Is there any way to bypass the windows password at all so I can address all my other newly acquired issues?