Hello !! today finally got up the nerve to install IE SP3 upgrade that has been sitting on my desktop waiting for installation. Finally saw the 'successful install' (or whatever the popup showed) - restarted and here i am !!
I did as you all instructed...all the proper steps including closing all programs/ disconnecting from internet; disabling firewall-A/V (prior to this i did: full system scan/ck-disk/cleanup/defrag ....only thing i forgot how to get to the 'safe mode' and installed from regular Windows Startup .
Thanks again to all those who wrote-in with detailed instructions....now i have to get up the nerve to upgrade to ISS 2010 and IE 7 OR 8 !! LOL
Best regards - Edythe