Windows Xp - MS Photo Editor stopped working after 03/02 update

I had installed MS Word 97 on my XP - SP3 computer to get MS Photo Editor in
JAN 2010. I was able to use MS Photo Editor to edit JPEG files for two
months, and then after the 03/02/2010 Automatic Update, Photo Editor would
not open.
I tried recopying the one .exe file - and when I click on that the screen
goes black mementarily and subsequently various backgrounds, and sometimes
colors, are messed up, requiring a restart to rectify.
If I can't get Photo Editor back up, what other free program could I use for
the same tasks?