Help!! Computer problem driving me crazy!! *Updated*

[MamaKanga]

About a week ago my Internet Explorer started running s-l-o-w-l-y. We have Windows XP and cable internet. It's always been super fast. Now it's just as slow as dial-up. I figured it was the ISP, and spent 2 hrs on the phone with them yesterday only to be told nothing is wrong with our internet connection. :banghead They said it's probably a problem with Internet Explorer and recommended I go to microsoft.com and try to find help. I've spent about 5 hrs trying to do that and downloading updates, etc but the problem persists. I'm sooooooooooooooooo frustrated!!! STuff like this just drives me nuts and with a new baby and busy little boy I don't have the time or energy to deal with it! :hissyfit

Can anyone help? Any ideas why this would have happened so suddenly or what I can do to fix it?

[Punkie]

Internet explorer is notoriously horrible with stuff like this. Would you consider switching to another browser, like Firefox or Opera?

[Chris3jam]

Do you have a good anti-virus program running? When's the last time you de-fragged?

[2sunshines]

I would recommend a defrag, which is good routine maintenance anyway, especially if you haven't done one in a while.

But I agree with Punkie. This stuff happens with explorer. We don't even use it anymore. There are so many better internet browsers.

[MamaKanga]

I have cleaned up the hard drive and done the de-frag, it didn't make a difference. I have also updated Windows and Norton and scanned, etc. Nothing showed up.

I don't know anything about different browsers, so I hadn't even thought of that. How do I get a different one? Is it something I have to buy? Is there a downside to doing this? And, why would my IE suddenly have problems, when it was fine before? :doh

[Punkie]

Well, if you try another browser and have the same issue, then you will at least know that its not a browser problem...

Firefox (http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/) is really good, offers tabbed browsing, and is free. :grin

[MamaKanga]

Will I get ads or popups from using firefox?

[MamaKanga]

And, will I still be able to use Outlook Exp?

[MamaKanga]

Just wanted to say thanks for the great idea of using firefox. It is working wonderfully and the internet is speedy. I love the search feature of firefox, too!

[ThirstyTurtle]

Firefox is awesome! I highly recommend it! :tu

However, sometimes you might have to revert back to Internet Explorer because some sites do not work with FireFox. Although, I have not had to do that in a long time.

You might want to consider checking your computer for spyware that may be taking advantage of Internet Explorer. There is a great free program that does this called Spybot Search and Destroy: http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html
After you install it, be sure you run the updates within Spybot so that it has the most up-to-date spyware definitions (like virus definititons, but for spyware). Maybe that will speed up Internet Explorer for you.