I think IE8 may well be corrupt if you only have 1 out of the 4 options to display your history. With Vista IE8 removal is via an update, find that update and uninstall it, you will automatically revert to IE7, then try to update to IE8 again.
Another cause of this judging by Internet posts is Norton AntiVirus and some dodgy Addons in IE8.
I can't help with a definitive answer I'm afraid.
EDIT: I take it that Ctrl+H just opens a blank Favourites tab.