Have XP cd in drive- ( or know where the i386 file is)
Shorter to reinstall IE/OE if thats the only place the problem is. Search for IE.inf on C drive, right click IE.inf-select install and let the filechecker verify/replace files as needed- or if other things wierd- leave CD in drive, click Start>Run> type in SFC /scannow and let filechecker do the whole OS verification.