Internet Explorer

Hello,

IE7 does not want to load on my desktop. I get to the white screen with a "connecting" message and then it freezes. I usually have to try two or three times for a connection. The first attempts give me the "not responding" window and take a few clicks to close. My laptop is fine using the same connection and router. Thinking about trying IE8 but wanted some advice first as I've heard about issues with it and don't want to make things worse. No issues with Firefox but my wife likes Explorer. I have a Dell Dimension 8100, Pentium 4, XP Professional SP3. Any help is greatly appreciated. Malware is clean and I have run all of the tasks in the Malware forum and had my logs checked. Thanks!