Browser closing suddenly

I am having a problem with my browsers (both IE and FireFox) closing
suddenly. This has just started recently and it I am guessing it had
something to do with an MS update. I have since uninstalled/reinstalled
the most recent updates, but the problem still exists. I can most often
repeat this by searching via Google for an image and when I click on
the result I get the following.

AppName: iexplore.exe AppVer: 6.0.2900.2180 ModName: unknown
ModVer: 0.0.0.0 Offset: 45207465

Or a similar error message with AppName as Firefox. I have run MANY
different malware/spyware/antivirus programs and everything comes up
clean. The only thing I can think of is it is something to do with java
or activex running on a page. The problem is not consistent, as I can
visit a page one time and it will crash, but the next time it won't.
I am running XP professional, version 5.1.2600, Service pack 2 Build
2600. IE is version 6.0. FF is 1.5.0.2.

Thanks in advance for any replies.