IE7 + Vista wont allow local and net pages to open in same browser

[projects14a]

I tried to find a solution to this when i first set up my pc, and ended up using a free web host to get around it. But the free web host wont allow direct html coding, and everything has to be done through their wizard which is crap and laborious. Not only that, but for a home page, it takes forever to load, which makes it as useless as a chocolate fire guard.

Anyway, i basically have my home page set to a page i created with links to all the sites i use frequently. The links are the website logo's and on my old xp machine i could store the page locally, opening local pages and web sites within the same browser, but now vista seems to have blocked this from being possible. Is there any way around it? As i say, i have done a lot of searching on the subject, but was unable to come up with a solution other than the above.

Thanks in advance

 

[projects14a]

ISP is sky, dont know if they allow that, will ask next time i call them.
I can get it to open the local file, its just that when i click a link, it opens a new browser window, which is very annoying.

Whats IIS? Ive installed firefox, but i dont really get on with it and prefer IE. I know many others probably think im crazy, but its my preference

 

[projects14a]

Ah, i used to use those at uni for some projects, forgot all about them! Cant remember which i used except for EasyPHP for an sql database store.
Thanks for the recommendations, will do some research into the available free IIS's