What version of Internet Explorer are you using?
I have version 9
I gave up using Internet Explorer several years ago after far too many freeze ups, sluggishness, and just plain piss poor functionality. I got tired of holding the power button down in order to re-boot my machine while in the middle of something.
Keep in mind that Microsoft is not fixing any bugs or issues with IE9 anymore, which is why I suggested updating if you want to continue to use IE. They're current version is 11