oe & ie will not print

[vlier]

i'm running xp home edition.
outlook, internet explorer and msn explorer will not print. all other programs, (such as word) print fine
in explorer, i can change print settings, and it is set up for the default printer, but when i hit print, nothing happens, I've tried with the printer dialog open, nothing is sent to the printer.
one thing that may be related is if i try to use the search (start-> search) nothing happens, search dialog does not open on the machine.
pls help

 

[vlier]

i have opened Dcomcnfg.exe, expanded "computers" and did not see the "default security" or the "default com security" tabs.
I've read about dcomcnfg .exe permissions causing strange behavior, but i do not see the settings to change the default access permissions.
i really do not want to reinstall oe and ie and have these old permission settings still in control, any ideas?