"Upgraded" to IE8 and it messed up every

Hello, I downloaded IE8 and then could not get onto the internet. I finally got on with firefox but still have so many problems I don't know where to start. First, I cannot access system restore. Anything I try to access thru my desktop such as system restore, it just flashes and does nothing. If I try to search my pc, the assistant comes up but there is no dialogue - this goes for all help menus as well. I have tried accessing other way too but to no avail. I uninstalled IE8 but it seems like I keep find references to it so I'm not totally sure if I have or not actually. I have several error messages that I won't bother mentioning unless anyone thinks it will help. I am at my wits end and I don't know what to do. I have a recovery disk but don't know if that would fix it (?) and I rather not lose everything if I can at all avoid it. If anyone has any suggestions I would really really appreciate it.