OK, I'm going to toss an idea on the wall for everyone to ponder on, then I have to get to bed. Could a quick fix be as simple as working with his hosts file? Do a search for hosts file. One of the hits wil be http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm where it explains The Hosts file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. This file is loaded into memory (cache ) at startup, then Windows checks the Hosts file before it queries any DNS servers, which enables it to override addresses in the DNS. This prevents access to the listed sites by redirecting any connection attempts back to the local (your ) machine. Another feature of the HOSTS file is its ability to block other applications from connecting to the Internet, providing the entry exists. You can use a HOSTS file to block ads, banners, 3rd party Cookies, 3rd party page counters, web bugs, and even most hijackers. This is accomplished by blocking the connection(s) that supplies these little gems. Example - the following entry 127.0.0.1 ad.doubleclick.net blocks all files supplied by that DoubleClick Server to the web page you are viewing. It isn't a solution to the original problem, but it lets you get back to work so you can find and take care of the real problem. Ponder on that, I gotta get out of here. | 
All browsers slow to really, really slow.
