internet explorer needs to close--send error report

Hello, eternal gratitude if you can help with this

Windows 98SE
600Mhz Intel celeron processor
320 MG RAM
40 GB hard drive
Compaq 5000 series computer
Running IE 6.0 with SP1, AVG, Zone Alarm firewall, Earthlink dial up, and anti spyware programs (Just got my system free of spyware per MajorGeeks removal advice).

This problem started before (or maybe during) spyware removal. I keep getting knocked off websites with an error message that says IE needs to close, please send error report. This happens so frequently I wan't to throw the damn thing out the window, but I'm poor, so I've gotta make this computer last another few years.

I also get messages saying Explorer caused an invalid page fault in module OLE32.DLL at 0167:65f4e5b8, and the most frequent error message which has to do with msvcrt.dll

Also, Earthlink's task panel crashed once saying something very unusual happened with C++. AVG says kernel32 has changed.

This is what I've tried: the IE repair tool, reinstalling IE6.0, reinstalling Earthlink's software. I also removed MSJava because of the spyware risk--now I wonder if it's needed on my system for something. I have the most current Sun Java installed.

I had a major crash at the end of November that said IExplore.exe needed to be reinstalled, but I couldn't even get Windows to boot in safe mode. This was a problem because I have a Compaq 5000 series computer that I had to install a new hard drive in, so I was unable to use the Quick Restore. A friend lent me a copy of Win 98 SE and told me to reinstall everything. I thought it would be a better idea to just extract the SHLWAPI.DLL file which seemed to be the source of the problem. The reinstallation seemed to help up until a few weeks ago.

Now I have a compaq computer with a Window's key that doesn't match, so I can't get updates or support. I downloaded Mozilla as an end run around the problem, but I need IE to pay certain bills online.

Any ideas?