Links don't work at all

Every time I click on a link on the internet a transparent box appears and the egg timer but then nothing else happens. There is no error message. I am running Windows XP. I have checked the scripting options in Tools-Internet Options-Security-Custom Level but they are all set to enable. I restored the defaults in the 'Advanced' tab and tried to restore the web settings in the 'Program' tab but it said it was unable to do this. Is there a way I can resolve this problem without having to do something drastic like reinstall internet explorer? I would really appreciate your help.

 

http://www.majorgeeks.com/vb/showthread.php?t=31907&highlight=urlmon.dll