Gypssy, do you ever get the dialog about reporting the error to Microsoft? If so, there is a link that will tell you the error code. It will look like "0x000F2397E44" or some odd string like that. You can do a search on that code to get a clue about what is going on.
Are you dial-up or broadband? Are you using an accelerator? When I was using dial-up the accelerator would sometimes cause what you are describing. It had its own cache that I needed to empty, then I switched it off and restarted it. Other browser add-ins can also cause problems.
Another thought, have you ever used a registry cleaner? They are a little scary, but the first time I ran one it found >400 issues, and it did make things run better. Send me an email and I'll tell you what I use.