Microsoft (Won't) Help

This is a combination of a plea for technical assistance and a complaint about Microsoft tech support.

I have Internet Explorer on my home computer. Up until two days ago, it worked fine. Now it won't open. I've tried the desktop icon, the start menu, the actual program in Program Files, double clicking and rightclick/open on html files on my computer, no luck. I get a bit of hourglass-and-cursor, then it goes back to the cursor. I've tried waiting for up to 10 minutes.

No other program I've tried (word, excel, acrobat, notepad, a couple of games) has any problems, although it does take longer than usual to open "my computer" and folders on my hard drive. They open, it just takes 30 seconds or a minute instead of a few seconds. I've been able to download updates for McAfee and windows media player, so it isn't my internet connection.

I run Windows XP Professional, Service Pack 3. I recently installed an update, but IE worked for a short while after the install & reboot. IE is version 6.something. I don't have any other browsers installed (something I will be fixing as soon as I can - anyone know if I can get firefox without needing a web browser?).

Repeated reboots have had no apparent effect.

Now the rant. After trying the things implied or stated above, I called microsoft tech support. After asking about 20 questions (name, zip code (?), phone number, email address, operating system and version, etc.) they finally got around to asking what was wrong. I gave them a somewhat shorter version of the above. The guy then asked for my windows licence, and noted that since it was a Compaq OEM they didn't support it for free. He then offered me the choice of internet support (I interjected that my problem was that I COULDN'T GET ON THE INTERNET; he seemed uninterested), transferring me to Compaq tech support, or Microsoft tech support for $59.

My thoughts went something like: "Well, you've filled me with confidence so far, with the whole 'I'm following a script so closely I'm not even listening to your problem', so I'm not interested in paying $59 just yet. "OK, transfer me to Compaq."

Ring! Ring! "Hi, welcome to [garbled] how can I help you?" Oh goodly, this one has a detectable accent, and let's just say it isn't from anywhere in the US.

Me: [Problem statement]

"OK [20 questions, oddly similar to the ones above.] Well, you have three options..."

Wait a minute, this guy transferred me to ANOTHER GUY AT HIS CALL CENTER, and he's giving me THE EXACT SAME OPTIONS I GOT A MINUTE AGO!

Me: "Ah, instead of transferring me to Compaq, can I get their phone number?" I somehow resisted the impulse to ask how the weather was in India and whether he'd had any training beyond Script Reading 101.

"Thank you for calling Hewlet Packard... please say 'desktop', 'laptop'..." Er. OK, I guess they just gave me the generic phone number, not specifically desktop support. After three rounds with the voice-pseudo-recognizing software I get as far as desktop support. But it doesn't want to hear about Internet Explorer, Compaq, or Windows XP. After hitting three dead ends I hung up.

So, world wide web, I'm begging anyone out there who might have a clue to please suggest things to me.