well, if it's your browser that's messing up you might be able to fix it by running the internet repair tool. i forget how to get into that from winXP (i usually do it for win98 customers), but it should be something like add/remove programs, probably in your control panel. if you click on IE in a list of programs and click add/remove you should get the option to "repair internet explorer". takes a minute or two, and then you restart. it shouldn't hurt anything, doesn't need backup CDs, and might help.