visual basic outdated??

[denise]

Since I have installed Office XP Standard for Students:
(running windows 98)
whenever I am downloading a word document from my e-mail,
I get an internet explorer error message that shuts down
my internet explorer and causes my pc to freeze up. It is
only when downloading and opening. I can save it then
open it from word perfectly fine but I don't need to do
that often.
The error says : error: OLEAUT32.DLL "visual basic can not
be initialized or is out of date. If this message
continues please restart your computer"
I don't even know what visual basic is - nor do I use it.

I have tried repairing windows XP, word and internet
explorer with no success.
Can anyone help me??
I can not get through to Microsoft and I am a poor
starving college student trying to get my BA.
Thanks