HELP HELP HELP!! IE 6.0 giving me *censored*!

[armandote]

hello all. this is my first post in this site and im hoping someone out there can help me with this problem im having. for the past four or five days now, when i try to open some sites a "file download" window pops up and i cant get into the website. for instance, if i try opening myspace.com...that "file download" window pops up promting me to download a file by the name of "myspace" from "myspace.com". so depending on which site i am trying to access the name of the file i'm promted to download changes. i tried to access the forum section of the Microsoft website and in the "file download" window that popped up i got this: file-"forum" from-"microsoft.com". on other occassions the website will not open and im told that the browser i am using is not compatible and instructs me to update to 5.5 or higher...which is wierd because i already have the newest version. as a matter or fact..as i sit here writing this..up above where the smileys usually are..there is nothing there and it says "browser not compatible with these buttons". could it be that when i updated to version 6.0 of IE something went wrong and thats whats been giving me all this mess? any suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated. thanks in adnvance for your help.
                   Mike
ps. im posting a picture of the "file download" window i mentioned which keeps popping up and wont allow me to access certain sites.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c398/mr_lizerd/myspcdwnld.jpg
<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c398/mr_lizerd/myspcdwnld.jpg" border="0" alt="Image hosting by Photobucket">[/url]

[Armando]

I don't know what's causing your problem or how to get rid of it, BUT:
1. Make sure you don't have any viruses/adware/spyware/trojans
2. Use FireFox

[Rob Pomeroy]

Yes, your IE installation is faulty (good riddance).  You could reinstall (choose the repair option), but frankly you're better off without...

[Backdated]

Try running [highlight]IEFix[/highlight].

[armandote]

ok i tried IEFix and it didnt do the trick. i still get that annoying "file download" dialog box when i try to access certain websites...and still other websites tell me that my browser is not compatible with their site. i downloaded Slim Browser and made it my default browser but that did not work either. i tried system restore..and found out that somehow my brother turned off that function so i have no "safe" date to restore my system to. all i want to know is if its possible to somehow uninstall whatever files i downloaded when i updated to IE version 6.0? i would look to microsoft for help with this issue but i cant open their website because of this very problem. hey robpomeroy, i tried the reinstall but i keep getting that "you already have the newest version" prompt. i know there is no way to completely uninstall IE (nor do i want to), but is there a way to completely shut it off when im using a different browser?  

[GX1_Man]

Have you done the drill?

http://www.computerhope.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?num=1134123580

[armandote]

well took close to three hours but i "did the drill" as you say. got rid of some things that were lingering around..including one virus. yet i still have the same problem. im almost convinced now that my problem is nothing more than, as robpomeroy put it, a "faulty" install of the update for my browser. i was able to access the "help" section of microsoft and sent them a description of my problem..to which i got a prompt response, suprisingly enough. they want a "detailed" description of my problem. i sent them a nice long email with screenshots and everything...now lets see how long this takes hehe. thank you all for your help..it is all very much appreciated. ill post the solution to my problem, if microsoft is able to find one, so that others with the same problem can easily fix it.
                Mike

[Backdated]

While you're waiting, carry out the procedures listed [highlight]in this post[/highlight] and post a Hijackthis logfile here when done.
If possible, zip the logfile and attach it rather than post it.