What da heck did I do wrong

It does seem strange that it would work after installing it and then not work today. Did you change any settings? If not something could have not happened correctly with the install. I would go to the add or remove function in windows. Look for IE 7, if it's there remove it. It is set up to revert back to IE 6 when you do this. Restart you machine and download IE 7 again. I can't remember if after installing IE 7 if you are prompted to restart, I would. If it's not working then I would consider checking out the help functions in MS, especially those on the IE 7 download page. Hope this helps.

I was just looking at IE 7 and have another thought about your problem. Do you see the Tools item? If so click it, you should see links to menus and tool bars. If nothing is maked click on them, you should see changes on the screen. Try this before my first suggestion. Post back with what happens.   

none of those worked but I did a system restore and it did the trick. Im up and running now... but thanks for your help  

IE7 messed up my computer so bad, after a day of trying to fix it and restore 6, I had to reformat. I will never have 7 on my computers. I use FireFox now.

That was also a good option. Glad to know that you're back up and running. If you've been around computers awhile you'll realize that some things just happen. The system restore usually corrects them.   

never did foxfire is it good?? i am willing to change

If you visit the forums reguarly you will find that when it comes to browsers (and sometimes all software) what works for one user doesn't always work for the next. I've not had problems with IE, others will swear by FF. Suggestion, find one that works with your system, then go try one of the others (FF, Opera etc.). If you find that another one works, then you can make a decision as to which one to use. One thing to keep in mind, at sometime you will find that you will need IE, I would leave it on your system. It doesn't need to be you primary browser.   

That is true, but FireFox has an extension called IE tab. It allows you to open a page in IE and if its a regular site that you visit options allow you to set that page to always open IE tab. Another extension is Microsoft updates, allowing you to use the IE tab.

The extensions available are amazing...some once you use once you will wonder how you lived without them, others just annoying or even silly. But the fun is in the discovery. Try them out....The list of most popular on the addon page is really a great place to start. Be aware that occasionally extensions will not work well together, so take it slow, only adding 1 or 2 at a time...visit your usual sites and test the extensions.

WWW Link

It's My Secret

That's odd....I've added IE7 to 3 separate computers now without hitch, originally at beta level, including one uninstall/reinstall...

....so 4 times, no dramas....