First, a quick (dumb) check - are you absolutely sure you are printing to a printer and not to a file? Had to check! Also, if you use another browser do you see the same problem?
I suggest removing and re-installing IE - get IE7 (or IE8, if you prefer)
here (save to disk), backup your bookmarks, then uninstall IE7 via Control Panel > Add/Remove Progs > Windows Components.
Re-install IE7 from the download, restore bookmarks. You may need to re-install Flash, ShockWave, Silverlight, Adobe reader, etc., or maybe it will pick them up on first use.
I'm a bit concerned about
I have not updated beyond this [sp2] after reading on here and elsewhere of the issues and problems with doing so.
and
Automatic updates have been disabled to avoid problems as reported on here previously
There's a world of difference between not using Automatic Updates and not updating at all! I don't use AU, but I manually update monthly. Similarly, there's nothing to force you to install SP3, but you should still be updating SP2 with all the security updates - and the same for Office and IE.
Makes me wonder if your system has been compromised in some way.
SD