I managed to get rid of the black bar under the one line (don't know what they are called) by removing the check mark in front of menu bar, but I can't figure out how to get rid of the rest of it....

Okay...I rebooted and it came back looking normal. But...is there any way I can get rid of all the blank places and make that area take up less of my screen? I like the Google tool bar, though....Xp Professional SP 3..IE 8

I helped someone here with the same problem recently you might look here for that post, also google black bars in IE to find some answers,(there are many many having the problem).

this is a workaround for it but you can check the other options also
Internet Explorer 8 Fails to Render Properly

have you changed the theme? try going to the classic theme in windows and see if it changes it back.
do you have yahoo messenger? in some cases uninstalling it fixed the issue.

for some it was part of their ATI card causing the problem for that this was the fix.
Go to MSCONFIG, \"Services\" tab and uncheck the \"Ati
> Hotkey Poller\".

Stop using IE. :-)

if you do not have a second browser on the pc adding firefox is definitely a good idea in case IE should fail you have a backup.

But...I wanted this fixed...even if I use another browser. I used the link ravencajin provided above and this put it all back the way I wanted it, but I don't know what caused this in the first place...I hadn't changed any setting or hadn't done anything differently....sometimes I just hate computers, but I can't get along without one now

from what I have seen the times I have tried to help someone with this problem is that it is some type of bug in IE or in windows and several MS sites said it was a conflict between some types of video cards and drivers with something in windows or IE seems most have sp3 on them so could have had something to do with that update too. Why it happens to some and not others is the question.

Once again the good people on the computer help forum got me out of a spot :o)

I had done all the updates a few days ago and all was well up until yesterday..no changes. I just turned it on yesterday morning and there were those black tool bars...all is well this morning....thank you very much for your help.

Now I don't know how to install firefox...and can I have IE "and" firebox...how does that work?

Just click the download then run rather than save to let it install.
Simple.

It will ask if you want to transfer internet explorer settings..... say yes is simple.

It will ask if you want firefox for the default browswer ... meaning, when you click things other than standard weblinks .. Firefox opens rather than Internet Explorer. Leave it Internet Explorer as default browser is my suggestion. It will take time to learn firefox.

Here is a link that might be useful: www.mozilla.org

yes you can certainly have both IE and firefox and it is a good idea to have at least 2 should one fail you have a backup. All you have to do to use firefox one you have it downloaded and installed is to click on the firefox icon and it opens the browser, you can then set your home page if it did not transfer that in the settings and you will be good to go. When you do the install of firefox if you told it to go ahead and transfer your settings and favorites to firefox then all should be there for you. (this will NOT remove them from IE just copy them)There are tons of very helpful add-ons for firefox, a few that I suggest everyone have is adblock plus with the easylist subscriptions which will block the annoying ads on pages, WOT to let you know what websites are safe or not (this is available for IE also). Here is a site with a lot of good info to help you learn firefox.

(you can set firefox as your default easily at any time so no worry there)

Here is a link that might be useful: learn firefox

Okay...thanks...I'll gitterdone :o)