MS IE 5.5 Hangs

Since I upgraded to MS IE 5.5, the browser will frequently stop responding. Clicking on BACK or FORWARD doesn’t work. Clicking on HYPERTEXT links doesn’t work. Downloads don’t initiate etc. But if I click FILE-NEW-WINDOW, then everything works fine in the new window (until that one stops responding too). What is causing this and how do I fix it? I’ll give partial points to anyone who has a technical explanation (and can somehow document it) even if they don’t have a solution. Thanks!