I found this (a few times actually with ppl getting the same thing you are. it sounds simple and worth trying. i'm still investigating. i found other information regarding malware, trojans, etc. but this seems easier to start with and i found a few sites with this same issue and resolve):

My collegue didn't user her computer for a week, and when she turned it on yesterday everything was fine EXCEPT Internet Explorer 6 is working extraordinarily slow, especially when it comes to opening pop-up windows.

She's checked in Firefox and the same sites work fine so it's definitely an IE problem. Also she's tested the broadband and LAN connections and they are fine.

Last night I scanned uin Nortons AntiVirus 2004, Spybot Search & Destory, Lavasoft Ad-Aware and Microsoft Anti-Spyware, and nothing came up (except for a few cookies in Ad-Aware, which I quarantined).

I also checked at WindowsUpdate and the computer is all up to date.

The Opera browser and Netscape are also fine. Does anyone know why IE would be running so slowly?

So far as I can tell my collegue doesn't have any unusual plugins or anything istalled.

Can anyone help?

luckypingudog at hotmail.com


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Response Number 1
Name: Jet (by luckypingudog)
Date: April 11, 2005 at 20:18:53 Pacific
Subject: I.E.6 is super-slow!
Reply:

Found the solution (after a few hours of trial and error!)...

In Internet Explorer, go:

Tools > Internet Options > Programs > Manage Add-ons...

Look for an add-on called "req.dat", select it and then choose "Disable" below.

Click OK then OK again, then restart Internet Explorer.

I don't know what req.dat is (its Type is listed as "Browser Helper Object), I just found it was this one through a process of trial and error.

I'm not young enough to know everything.