Internet Explorer taking all resources in XP Professional

[poddys]

Most of the time my desktop pc runs fine, but about once a week when I
click on a link or a page is loading in IE the system will virtually
freeze.

I don't do a lot of surfing (it's a work computer) so I don't venture
into dangerous territory (sites with popups and redirects etc). I also
keep my cache and cookies pretty clean, so it's not because that gets
clogged up. The sites that cause the problem don't seem to have
anything in common and are work related or news related sites. I also
DON'T have any 3rd party toolbars installed and DO have all the latest
updates to XP Professional.

When the lockup occurs, if I do Ctrl-Alt-Del and open the Task Manager
(this can take a minute or 2 to load because of the problem) I can see
the Internet Explorer is taking 98/99% of the cpu usage. I can try to
cancel IE, but it won't cancel. I can't click on anything in the IE
window because it's locked up. If I try to switch to a different open
window, that could take from 2-4 minutes to refresh. I tried to lower
the priority of IE in the Task Manager, but this makes no difference.

I just ran Adaware and that removed 51 cookies, none of which looked to
be threatening.
We are running Trend Micro anti-virus.
Does anyone have any idea what might be causing this?
Surely I can't be alone in this?
Thanks in advance.
Tony Payne
MAAX Inc.
Plymouth, Indiana.

 

[PA Bear]

Check for Hijackware
http://aumha.org/a/parasite.htm
http://aumha.org/a/quickfix.htm
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm
http://inetexplorer.mvps.org/Darnit.htm
http://www.mvps.org/sramesh2k/Malware_Defence.htm
http://defendingyourmachine.blogspot.com/

When all else fails, HijackThis
(http://aumha.net/downloads/hijackthis.zip) is the preferred tool to
use. It will help you to both identify and remove any hijackware/spyware.
**Post your HijackThis log to http://forums.spywareinfo.com/,
http://castlecops.com/forum67.html or
http://aumha.net/viewforum.php?f=30 for expert analysis, not here.**