Inter Explorer addons damage and security glitches

So I recently got an error from a program I attempted to use on my computer. It said active x flash is not installed on my computer. I knew this was ridiculous because I had it installed and was using it when it made the error. However, I quickly realized that they were probably talking about Internet Explorer. So I rarely use internet explorer for anything at all any more. I switched to Mozilla fire fox. However, in order to use this specific program I needed to install flash or reinstall it. So long story short, I go to adobe.com and go to download this active x control being asked for and this pops up:

http://www.fileden.com/files/2009/11/21/2659244/addonfail.gif

Usually that would be a good sign, but it doesn't give me the option of whether I want to download the active x control. It just blocks it entirely. It turns out it's doing it on purpose. At least when I click on it and the help menu pop's up, that's what it says. It said the only way to change this is from the security settings. This is where things really get weird:

http://www.fileden.com/files/2009/11/21/2659244/security%20settings.gif

The security settings are modified to the point that I can't turn that bar off, or by pass it. There isn't even the option of turning it off altogether or putting it on low. When I go to custom level to try to alter it, the whole internet explorer browser crashes! This was one of the reasons why I've completely moved to fire fox in the first place, because of bugs reoccurring in internet explorer.

So anyway, it seems as though some programs I have downloaded have altered internet explorer. I also noticed a few options and context menus that do not come with internet explorer by default. My guess as to why all this is happening is because, I downloaded some security programs and they made custom settings to my internet explorer browser without my permission. I also think it's because of the updates I did on my computer recently, because before that I don't remember having to many problems.

http://www.activewin.com/reviews/previews/xpsp2beta/wupdate-remind.gif

So does anyone have an idea as to how to fix this? Have you had this same problem yourself? I would like to fix this so that I can use other programs on my computer and fix my internet explorer back to the way it was. I would like to install flash on my internet explorer browser.

 

Perhaps you could try this Fix IE utility?

 

I just used it but before I used it I tried uninstalling my internet explorer 8 so I could do a fresh clean install. However, that just made the problem worse. Now my internet explorer doesn't open back up at all, and when I download the installer and tried to reinstall, it wouldn't let me.

This utility, obvious didn't help because my internet explorer isn't fully installed I assume. I tried installing a previous version, but that didn't work.