IE8 hanging at white screen, can't fix

[delmo22]

Hello,

OS: Vista Home Premium SP2
Browser: IE 8

I went to bed last night with my McAfee Antivirus scanning my PC. Woke up with no infected files, and closed the scan window.

I attempted to open IE, and it hung at a white screen, showing "Connecting..." in the active tab. I noticed that I had Windows Updates waiting to be installed in the Taskbar, so I viewed and installed them (Vista SP2). Upon completion, I tried IE again. No success.

I researched the issue on another PC and tried a couple things:

1. Open IE - no add-ons - still does same thing.
2. Downloaded, installed, and ran Malwarebytes Anti-malware - system rebooted midway thru scan.
3. Internet Options>Advanced>Reset IE Settings - tried IE again, no success.
4. Manage Add-Ons - only enabled Add-Ons are McAfee Site Advisor Toolbar and BHO.
5. When I tried IE again, it ran me through the Welcome to IE8 setup/preferences. Once completed, my homepage or any other websites still do not open.

I am at a loss. Any help or advice would be much appreciated. Thank you.

Delmo22