Click the Tools menu in Internet Explorer and then to Internet Options. Under the General tab, click the Accessibility button near the bottom right. Uncheck everything and hit OK.

The accessibility buttons are already unchecked. So I tried checking them, which just made it weirder than ever, then unchecking them again, which reverted things to the state of affairs described above. So thanks for your attempt to help, but it didn't work.

Go here and reinstall IE6-SP1 it will replace it see if that works shouldn't take too long.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en

Sorry, Mad Dog, that's something I've already done, and it made no difference.

Did someone say reformat in the background? Just kidding do a windows update run a virus scan and download AdAware & Spybot and see if any of that clears it up. BTW don't forget to update everything before running it.

I have done all those things. Windows Update has no files for me to download, Norton AntiVirus found nothing, nor did AdAware. Spybot found a number of things and corrected them, but none of this had any effect on the way Internet Explorer behaves.
I would uninstall IE altogether if I could and then reinstall it, but all I have listed in Add/Remove Programs is the Service Pack. If I delete it, it reverts to the previous version which is also with Service Pack because I have now found that Service Pack was preinstalled. After deleting it, Add/Remove Progams leaves me no listing of IE which I could uninstall, but it is still there in the same form. I don't like just to delete the IE folder because I am warned it might damage other programs, and I am not expert enough to want to take the risk.
Are we running out of options here? It is not really that important to me, it is usable for Windows Update, which is all I really need it for. I am perfectly happy to use Mozilla for everything else. So it's really just a puzzle I am trying to solve. Maybe I'll just have to wait for Internet Explorer 7.

Ok well this topic is for more then one person lets see if someone else can help you sorry buddy don't know what to tell you but, to reformat.

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=318378

I spent hours trying to fix the exact same problem on my dad's computer. I've just found the solution that worked for us. Assuming you are using Windows XP, go to the Help and Support center and Click on Accessibility. On my dad's machine, he had gone in to the Accessibility wizard to increase the font sizes, but the "high Contrast" option was also turned on. Under "options for visually impaired", I'll bet that "high contrast" has been turned on. If so, click it OFF and your problems should be solved. Good luck!