IE 6 Takes 10-20 minutes to Load

I have a problem with my computer where when I try to load Internet Explorer about half the time it will just sit around and do nothing for 10-20 minutes (while the CPU load on my computer is around 0-1%), before loading it.

I have DSL connected, no problems with the connection, and am using Windows XP Service Pack II. Other browsers work fine.

I'm not so much annoyed about losing Internet Explorer as the fact that this problem affects other programs too. For instance, I cannot use add/remove programs from control panel, services.msc, or paradoxically Civilization 4.

I would appreciate any advice on this!