E-mail attachments cause application to freeze

When I open an e-mail (Hotmail and AOL) then try to open an attachment or click a link in the e-mail, the e-mail window freezes and the only way to restore activity is with CRTL-ALT-DEL to close the task (also closes Internet Explorer). What might be the problem and what is the fix? I use Windows XP. Thank you for suggestions. R/James