Instead of torturing Ye Olde PC with a IE 5.5 install, I suggest a legacy version of Opera, version 6.06b, released in 2003, and is a dial-up modem-friendly 3.4 MB download.

I have installed DirectX 9.0c on two Win 98SE machines (233 MHz and 550 MHz), both featuring ancient on-board video. The software is backward compatible, but it won't, of course, turn old hardware into new.

If you are going to use it for Web surfing and word processing, 64 MB of RAM, a lightweight browser like Opera 6.06b, and AVG Free Edition antivirus is all you need.