[torque2k]

I hate to say it, but there are so many problems which could pop up in a Windows system that not even the combined staff of programmers at Microsoft could find your problem easy to solve... Just too many permutations and combinations of software and hardware exist.

That said, it sounds like you have access to the net. Download Firefox (updated Netscape/Mozilla web browser) to a disc and install it prior to the updates. Run it before updating the system, so it imports all your IE settings. Then update the system (knowing it'll probably not work), reboot, and see if you have access to the web with Firefox. If not, you have worse issues than with just IE. If it works, you may have to reinstall IE. At least by using Firefox, you have a litmus test.

Firefox can be downloaded from here:
http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/

Let us know if that produces any helpful results. Then we can chip away at the correct problem instead of fighting a fire on ALL sides.