Internet explorer 6 problems

> I have been having a bit of trouble with my internet. I
> wanted to upgrade a program to a newer version and when I
> started the upgrade I got a message that I had to have
> ie5 or better. I know I have ie6 and sp1, so I by passed
> that upgrade to go on to my upgrade and when I started ,
> it said I didn't have ie6, it needed to be installed!!!
> So, I click on there little button to download ie6, which
> I know I have but figured.....what the heck, maybe I'm
> missing something. Got that downloaded and when I went to
> install it,then got a box that said what I had on the
> computer was higher than what I was trying to instal so
> the installation could not coninue.Went back to try the
> original upgrad again on the program and It started over
> again telling me I didn't have a high enough Internet
> Explorer installed. I have windows xp, no disk, just a
> recovery disk, how do I fix my ie6 or reinstall it
> without a disk? Can anyone help me on this thanks
> Novice LC