snipped for length concerns

I would install a clean, full version of Windows 98 Second Edition which you
can fully update to date of July 11, 2006 as per end of support date for 98
Second Edition. There are full copies on Ebay that range from around $50-$75
for an os which is really cheap and 98 Second Edition really does have that
internal safety of dos as its maintenance operating system.
My opinion is that Microsoft chose the wrong development path when choosing
NT over 9x and I hope the new source code Microsoft develops is awesome and
combines the best of 9x and its maintenance operating system of dos with a
new advanced underlying maintenance operating system of NT, with the external
security of Vista and totally redefines computing in a complex and less
toy-like manner of recent operating systems.
You can mitigate risks such as to Internet Explorer by using the latest
version of Mozilla Firefox, tools such as SpywareBlaster which imo is awesome
and my favorite blocking tool for undesirables that try to get onto your
system, read in plain text and block external remote code including html,
have a router with the proper defensive measures for external security, etc.