New html text

I have spend the past two weeks constructing a web site.  Now, with Explorer 4.0, my background graphics are not opening and my font colors are not correct.  Please give me the html script that I need so I can write it in.  I need the script for Background graphics and font colors.  My site worked just fine under explorer 3.02, now I am told my microsoft support that the standard has changed and no one seems to know what the new standard is.  This should be such a very simple thing.  The text script for opening background graphic and font colors cant be much more than a line or two long.  I just want to manually write it in so my hours of work on my web site are not in vein.  Please help.