Using IE 6.0 with XP and having a strange problem. Pages often take forever to come up -- unless I select "open as new page," in which case the same page often comes up instantly. Fyi, the software came preinstalled on an IBM x40 Thinkpad.

Two things.
Open as new is a copy, not a newly downloaded page. It should be fast.

You could use any of the built in tools with XP to help. Task manager, performance monitor, and maybe event viewer to get a better clue.

Since you didn't mention the network type we can't guess further.

Sam: more websites are taking longer to load as the sites add graphics and logos with lots of razzle-dazzle.

when a page is taking forever to download all of its graphics, press the Spacebar to stop the graphics and allow you to read the text.
another trick is to click Stop and then click Refresh.
sometimes starting over will get you a faster download.

you can speed up navigation in Microsoft Internet Explorer by disabling page transitions.
to make this change, run IE and choose Tools, Internet Options.
when the Internet Options dialog box opens, click the Advanced tab.
deselect the check box labeled Enable Page Transitions and click Apply, OK.

again in Internet Options, General tab, Accessibility button;
check "Ignore font styles specified on Web pages",
check "Ignore font sizes specified on Web pages",
uncheck "Format documents using my style sheet".

upgrade to IE6 SP1 at:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/downloads/critical/ie6sp1/default.asp

slow loads can occur when the website has java applets to load; install Sun java.

more ideas at:

http://help.stargate.net/browsers/slow_freeze.shtml