Browser Issue

Has anyone had this problem? I don’t know if this is related to my browser or if it is a corrupt system file. I run Window 2000 on a workstation. When you login as a poweruser and go to a website the search fields are a thin line to the point that you can type in them but not see the text. I thought it might have been a problem with IE 5.5 so I removed it but still have the same problem. Any suggestions?