Can someone please help me determine what items I should eliminate, as they are likely responsible for my homepage being redirected to an unknown site .... as well as the abundance of pop-ups. I have Google toolbar with pop-up blocker but that does not prevent these new breed of pop-ups
Where do I start? You have beenhijacked! CommonName is only the most obvious. There are also a plethora of Browser Helper Objects (BHOs), most of which are hijackers.
If you want to know about what's in your startup, see http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_pages/startup_full.php
For more details about hijacking scumware in general, the two best sources that I've found so far:
http://www.mvps.org/inetexplorer/Darnit.htm and http://aumha.org/a/parasite.htm
Start the repairs by downloading Spybot -Search & Destroy via http://Security.Kolla.de and Ad-Aware 6.181 (or later) via http://www.LavaSoft.nu . Update both programs with the new reference files before doing a scan. It's not so much that you absolutely need both as it's a good cross-check; spyware authors are sneaky.
Make sure that your Windows 2000 patches are up-to-date. You should also go to the Gibson Research website. There, you can download the utilities Shoot the Messenger and Unplug Plug 'n' Pray to further secure your system.
That should get you started.