Browser Issues IE and Firefox

A couple of weeks ago I started having trouble viewing flash videos in Firefox (version 39). I tried updating my Flash Player, but was unable to download it from Adobe's site. I then tried IE, which I never use, and got "page cannot be displayed" for all websites. I read the next day that Firefox was blocking Flash Player for security issues, so didn't think much of it (I understand they are currently allowing Flash since Adobe fixed a couple of big security issues). I am now unable to download any files via Firefox (I tried downloading email attachments in Hotmail and Yahoo and a file from MajorGeeks as a test) and IE still won't display any webpages. When I try to go to Firefox's settings (Tools > Options), it shows about: preferences in the address bar, but the page is blank except for a small yellow square in the upper right of the browser tab. I am stumped and don't even know where to begin.

 

Thanks for responding. I tried the steps listed in the MS link you provided (except for the system restore). Unfortunately, the issue persists. Can you tell me if using system restore will affect my data files or revert them back to the state on the date of the restore point used?

 

That's smart. I don't have any working external storage devices currently (except a small capacity thumb drive). I'm tempted to reformat and create a large separate partition for my data (the setup I had on my old computer), so when I need to wipe Windows it's so much easier. I was originally going to wait to get a larger hdd (the one I have now is only 300GB), but it may be a while before I can get one.