Internet explorer and options aren't working

Hello,
So i was trying to update my internet explorer to the internet explorer 8, after it was finished i tried getting on and an alert type thing would pop up and wouldnt allow me on the internet. so i tried going to the control panel and checking the internet options, and the icon was nowhere to be found. so i went and got firefox downloaded. and now i can use the internet but i would like to get my internet options back. how should i go about doing that?