IE Disconnect I Think?

Running xp sp-3 with IE7, also have FF loaded, isp is comcast. I Have
had this set up for eight months.

Problem is, when I using IE7 for the last month or so, about eight
times now it will not connect, It happened today when I click on
Google, the bottom tool bar area reads waiting to connect. I never get
the "web site found" message when this occurs.

I thought IE was timing out but this seems to happen at random times.
When I try FF, bingo everything is fine, then I try IE again and it
will still not connect. In order to get IE working again I either
have to keep trying to click on different sites via short cuts, and on
occasion it will connect, if not I reboot and everything is fine for
two or three days.

While IE will not connect to a website, my email (outlook express)
still works and AV (avg) plus Spybot can still be updated manually.

Yes, I could just use FF, but I really like IE.

I ran the usual AV & Maleware programs, cleaned up the registry with
Ccleaner etc.

Don't know what to try next.

Gary