What about 3rd party toolbars? Do you have any installed? If so, disable
all of them and see if your response time improves. I think, given the
scans and precautions you've listed below, that you're likely virus/malware
free. Although.... you might try SpyBot and also Hijackthis.


Youka wrote:
> Thanks for the diagnosis. I wasn't sure if this type of behavior
> (slow startup, then speed up) was considered "normal" for IE -- and
> it sounds like you're saying that it's NOT.
>
> Looks like I'm headed to one of the Hijackthis forums, since . . .
>
> I previously ran Malwarebytes, SuperAntiSpyware, a-Squared, MSRT and
> Windows Defender, and a Kapersky Online Scan . . . all of which came
> back clean. Also, I'm fully patched, and have never been never
> without a valid A/V subscription (currently Avira).