Explorer cant upen new windows

Hi,
I’ve recently discovered that whenever I click a link in internet explorer that should open in a new screen it doesnt work.
The new internet explorer screen will open but the contents will stay the same as the window I linked from and will freeze (mousing over shows the hourglass symbol). All the buttons on the title bar etc of the new window will still work but the contents remains the same and the address bar stays clear.
I’ve tried hitting refresh, it does nothing. I dont have any anti popup software running.
I’m running windows xp.
please help!