IE8 hangs at "connection"

My IE8 has suddenly started hanging on "Connecting" and will not connect at all. I have a good connection for mail etc, so line is working good.
I have cleaned out temp internet files,history,etc. Reset all IE settings to default. Checked that Proxy server box is not ticked in LAN settings. Run Malwarebytes which returns clean result.

Cannot think what has caused this as I have not made any changes, it just happened at opening of IE.

System is XP Pro.SP3 and Office 2003 Pro SP2 .

Help would be very much appreciated.

bar457

 

Greetings, bar457...

Does IE crash when you run it with no add-ons? I don't have an XP machine available at the moment, but your path should be similar: Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Internet Explorer (No Add-ons)...

 

No, nor does it connect in Safe Mode with Networking.

 

Pardon my confusion: are you stating that IE (No Add-ons) does not crash?

 

Sorry, yes that was confusing.
It still does not connect but just hangs.

 

Maybe the site for your start page is experiencing a problem.
If you have another computer at the same location running IE8 launch that.
If it uses the same start page and it hangs, that might be the problem.