??you don't have Service Pack 3 yet??? (SP3)

That has a lot of newer security stuff for XP - if that's something you haven't downloaded yet I think it would be good to do that.
And it might fix the problem.

I think you can still request a cd of it from Microsoft if you don't want to download it..

info here-

[How to obtain Windows Service Pack 3
There are three ways to obtain the latest service pack:

* You can turn on Automatic Updates so that your computer downloads the latest service pack automatically.
* You can download the service pack manually online.
* You can order the service pack on a CD.]
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322389


Google Chrome is another browser like IE, Firefox, Opera and many more free ones.

I you go to a website to get your email it should work just fine- all you have to do is import all favorites & settings (passwords etc.) from your main browser.

to import settings click the little tool/wrench in the top right corner of the browser
go down to options

and select Personal Stuff - on that screen find Browsing data and click the box to import settings.