Browser(s) lock up when two different sites sessions time out

[videobruce]

Wasn't sure where to put this.

Using;XP Pro w/sp2
Browsers involved; Firefox V2 & Opera V9.25
Sites involved; Ameritrade & Yahoo Games
ISP; Earthlink DialUp
Modem; Built in Wintel on a Foxconn built MB (Dell). Latest driver

Being logged into either one of these sites, after they 'time out' for a session because of inactivity (by design), either browser seems to freeze up. You can open another site, hit the back button or log back in to that site. It happens with either browser. (IE has not been tried yet.)

This is NOT my system and the info posted here was just was I was told over the phone as I have not seen the system acting up.

There is NO issue with anything except when either site times out. While 'active', everything seems ok. He has to close either browser and re-open it to get back in his 'session'. He mostly uses the PC to do on-line trading and play on-line games in between his 'trades'.

What I did notice when I had the box here (I upgraded it w/ memory & a replacement burner and from XP Home to XP Pro) using this Ameritrade, when went in to sign in using hisaccount for the first time, there was a massive download of some program (?) that has to do with streaming stock quotes. I don't know if some program was installed as I wasn't able to complete the action while he was here since his other PC (at his house) was still logged in to Amertrade and the site wouldn't let him log in while the first session was active. He did this at home.

When I first saw this huge d/l coming, my only thought was 'I can't wait to see if this works'. It did work with Firefox before.

I did install Java before this 'extra data' arrived (for lack of a better term). I'm wondering if there is some conflict here.
BTW, the dialup connection does NOT drop according to his report.

Anyone have any idea what is going on??
I hope all of that made sense.

[videobruce]

Update;
All three browsers do the same thing. It's the O/S that 'locks up', not just the browsers. He has to reboot to recover.
I still haven't gotten my hands on his system yet, but will this week.

Any other ideas?
(There are no viruses).

[mjc]

That sounds more like a Java or JavaScript issue than browser...

I would first try updating Java to the latest from Sun, removing any/all old versions first.

[videobruce]

I now have the box here.

Observations:
1. The Ameritrade site maxes out the processor (99%) using Opera, but doesn't 'lock up' the browser or the O/S. The streaming quote page shows, but it is blank.
2. This works in Firefox, the streaming does show (the usual BS reply; they don't support Opera).
3. If he doesn't respond (in Firefox) for the time duration, the site apparently logs him off, but by doing so it appears to 'freeze' the page and possible the browser. He can't go back and log in again or open any other bookmark. He has to close the browser.
4. The same holds true for Yahoo Games. If he is playing a game he sometimes gets 'kicked off' or he he is inactive in the site he gets kicked off. All of the above applies. It's not just Ameritrade.
4. When tries to re-open either browser he would get either "POP server unavailable" in Opera (because there is no ethernet connection) and with Firefox he gets a "Modem already in use" 633 error even though the dialup is still active (or shows it is).
5. If you click on the Modem icon in the system tray, the dialog box pops up for a split second and disappears. He can't disconnect. He then has to reboot the computer.

[mjc]

Try updating Java...a number of those streaming quote things are really Java apps.

[videobruce]

It is and I have the most recent version.

I also found that logging into forums as these, there are problems. If I stop a page from fully loading (because of the slow dialup, not wanting to wait for all the crap to show from the ad servers) when I try to either login or respond to a post the site doesn't respond. In fact, I then can't respond to any other site or open up any other bookmark.

That sounds as a Earthlink issue.

[videobruce]

Is there issues with sp2 vs sp1, or issues between Home and Pro with XP regarding dial-up and TCP/IP connections??