Let's check a few things concerning your basic connectivity:

- In your Start menu, click the "Run..." option, type "cmd" (omit the quotes; if you use Windows 95/98, type "command" instead) in the "Open:" box, and hit enter. In the resulting DOS window, type the following command at the DOS prompt; post the information the command returns:

For Windows 2000 & XP:
ipconfig /all

For Windows 95/98:
winipcfg

In the statistics returned by the command, verify that your network adapter has been assigned valid IP, subnet mask, gateway address, and DNS server info.

- While still in the DOS box:

* Try to ping the local "loopback" address of your computer:

ping 127.0.0.1

* Try to ping the IP address that the ipconfig command reported for your network adapter:

ping IP_address_of_adapter

* Try to ping Google by its IP address:

ping 216.239.63.104

* Try to ping Google by URL

ping www.google.com


Let us know what you get.

If you have your windows XP OS disc, I think you can use it to repair windows (not reformat, just repair) or just download IE form the microsoft update page.

Try running winsockfix in my sig for sh*ts and giggles. (it only takes 2 minutes and a restart)