More likely it's an anti-malware program(s) mucking things up. Too many
cooks kind of thing where the various anti-malware apps don't get along
properly. What other anti-malware applications do you have installed? Any
that run in the background? Do you use any of SpyBot's protections?
Immunization, etc.? Do you have a HOSTS file? Might be a program called
Hosts File Manager if you've followed this NG for a while. If so, you'll
want to disable the HOSTS file itself.

This is all to test, you understand. If disabling another app fixes the
problem, then leave everything else enabled and see how long it works.

If you have Avast! installed, can you Update it and then run a manual scan?
(Good to do the scan in a Clean Boot environment.)

Do you have a backup of your Windows installation?  Just copy those 3
files to C:\Windows\System.
If not, do you have a friend that uses Win98 and IE6?  You said your
email works, so have them email you those 3 files.
If binaries were allowed on here, I'd zip them and upload them to you.
If you cant get them elsewhere, I will email them to you in one zip
file.
By the way, you have two names the same (above).  
On my system,
MSXMLA.DLL is 15K
MSXMLR.DLL is 26K

all small files.....  What's the 3rd one you need?

That is possible, however, you would need to install a few programs to test
for such. These programs MAY not function properly if you are missing some
key files.

QUESTION:

Did you contact Gary for those CDROMS he has referred to?
The Security Updates CD contains the installer for IE6 {which will replace
those files that you are missing. NOTE: you would then need to check on
windowsupdate to see if you needed any more updates. IF NOT then did you
attempt to FTP the IE6 installation files from somewhere [because you can't
apparently use a browser]?

THE REASON:

IF you re-install IE6 you may downgrade some of the updates already applied
to your system. Using the supplied CD-ROMs could potentially place you in a
compromised condition, which we refer to as "DLL hell" {mismatched DLLs in
the system and registry}. Moreover, you have some files in your system which
should not apparently be there.

THE PROBLEM:

IF you truly do have missing files then either you removed them or
something else did. That something could be a virus or otherwise. IF you are
infected, then merely replacing the files WILL NOT ensure that your system
is free of that potential hack or virus. Moreover, if you have a virus,
there is a potential that whatever you would download may become infected
during the attempt.

REGRETFULLY:

This may mean you need to prepare to re-install the system and programs on
a clean and checked disk. *IF* you have those disks Gary suggested, then you
would only need your 98(FE/SE} installation CDROM, driver, and application
installers to get back online, from there you can search for anything you
may be missing. One warning is, if you have older programs, then they would
likely need installed soon after the fresh installation, and updated if you
have those files..

YOUR FILES:

How did you get those versions? Do you have Office 2003 or something, or
did you install an XP update or was one suggested somewhere? Did you install
an un-official update or two? Or are we actually talking about XP here:

List of Microsoft XML Parser (MSXML) versions
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/269238

Microsoft Security Bulletin MS06-061
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms06-061.mspx

MS06-071: Security update for Microsoft XML Core Services 4.0
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927978

Since you've started a new thread, I will continue here.

First, I need to see if you have a proxy set up in the browsers.....if you do, you
need to remove those settings.

For IE6:
Start Internet Explorer.
Click the Tools menu> Internet Options
Click the Connections tab.
Click on the |LAN Settings| button.
If there a check in the box for "Use a proxy server for your LAN", uncheck the box
and click OK all the way out, then close a re-open IE.

For Firefox 2.x:
Start Firefox.
Click the Tools menu> Options.
Click the Advanced button on the Options window's toolbar.
Click the |Settings| button in the Connection section.
In the section "Configure proxies to access the Internet", make sure "Direct
connection to the Internet" is selected (NOT Manual Proxy Configuration), and if you
had to change it, click OK all the way out.
Close Firefox and then re-open it.

For Firefox 1.5.x (this is from memory, as I don't have it installed):
Open Firefox.
Click the Tools menu> Options.
Click the General tab.
Click the |Connection Settings| button in the Connection section at the bottom of
the window.
In the section "Configure proxies to access the Internet", make sure "Direct
connection to the Internet" is selected (NOT Manual Proxy Configuration), and if you
had to change it, click OK all the way out.
Close Firefox and then re-open it.

Post back to THIS thread with what you found there, in each case, and if you made
the changes if required.  Don't just post back with a one-liner reply like "It
didn't work" or "It wasn't there".....those type answers are useless.  Provide
details as to what you find and what you change.  Take notes and use them, please.

In case it is spyware causing the problems, try the free versio of
SuperAntispyware which can be dl'd at the same name and adding a .com.
Download it, install it, update it and then run it.

You can always just uninstall it if you don't want it. The free version is
just as powerful as the paid version except that it is on-demand only
instead of full-time plus a few other features.

If you do try it and decide to uninstall it, make sure superantispyware is
not running or showing on your task bar before using the uninstall.

Those three files (MSXML.DLL, MSXMLA.DLL, MSXMLR.DLL) can be be copied from
another Win98 machine or possibly from the install Win98SE cd. They are
fairly small in size, 525kb total.
Put them in the C:\Windows\Systems   folder.
On my Win98SE system, those files are version 8.0.6730.0.

Follow up to: "IE Running well so far"