I was trying to fix a laptop and managed to make IE unviewable.
I fixed it by going to tools, internet options, advanced and ticked/unticked (whichever it was) the "use software rendering ......" box (first line in my advanced settings).
This may not be your problem.
Reread the thread - what about a system restore to a previous time.
Will repairing windows help - can't rmember how to access repair options as I, almost wholly, use Linux now.
You got me interested and I gooogled "download a browser without a browser".
There are several pages and the simplest, to my mind, was "how to geek" using the command line - scroll down the page till you get to "ftp ftp.mozilla.org" and follow the instructions.
Last edited by finncapt; 31st Dec 2014 at 14:00.