IE6 hangs when downloaded MS upgrades

[ultimated]

I have been going back and forth with Microsoft on
problems I'm having with Internet Explorer 6. It hangs
when downloading upgrades from MS upgrade website. It
also has trouble downloading and displaying images from
websites. I am running Windows XP Home upgrade on Compaq
Presario 5000US in a home network using a Netgear router
and cable modem. I can rarely connect to the shared files
and printer on the laptop that on the network. Connection
is excellent, running 800 kbs transfer rate. I have
disabled the XP firewall, and a Norton firewall was
uninstalled. I have uninstalled and reinstalled IE6. It
doesn't seem to have a conflicting version of IE6, but I
am not sure how to check positively.
Any help would be appreciated.

 

[war17]

Router has a hardware firewall. You need to adjust it to allow access. To
see if it is the router, connect your internet connection directly to the
computer without router.