Windows 8.1/IE11 vs. Windows Vista/IE9 Page Loading Speed

I see a number of threads here concerning problems with IE11 and Windows 8.1 (I have read through many of them). Each problem seems to be a little different, and here is mine.

I have a new (December 2013) HP desktop which came with Windows 8.1 and IE11. I am using the desktop mode as my interface. On this machine, certain websites load slowly and erratically – 5 to 8 seconds or more. What is bothersome is that the page will not release the cursor or mouse wheel until everything has loaded. The elements on the page that display slowly (seem to be) those with animations requiring Flash – this is usually advertisements. This has been the behavior since I started using the machine. The main part of the page loads, then the Flash-based advertisements take a long time to load and only then release the cursor & mouse.

In the same room, I have my previous computer (2007) Windows Vista running with IE9. The same websites load very quickly and seamlessly and release the cursor and mouse wheel within 1-2 seconds. Both machines access the same router (Airport Extreme), and I am using Ethernet to connect to the router on both machines.

My antivirus is Avast (same version) on both machines. Having Avast active or not does not alter the results.

The Windows 8.1/IE11 machine does not have Java; the Vista/IE9 does have Java.

Unless there is something I am missing, the Internet Options are basically the same for both machines.

I have not tried any other browsers on either machine as I have no experience with them.

I am probably missing something obvious, but would be happy to receive advice from others here as to how get my IE11 speed up to my IE9 speed. Thanks.

An example of a really slow-to-load web site on Windows 8.1/IE11 is:

62 Windows 8 tips, tricks and secrets | News | TechRadar

Takes about 15 seconds to release the cursor.

That opens very quickly (about 3 seconds to release cursor) on my Vista/IE9 machine. If someone would try it, I would appreciate it. Thanks.

Retexan599 said:

An example of a really slow-to-load web site on Windows 8.1/IE11 is:

62 Windows 8 tips, tricks and secrets | News | TechRadar

Takes about 15 seconds to release the cursor.

That opens very quickly (about 3 seconds to release cursor) on my Vista/IE9 machine. If someone would try it, I would appreciate it. Thanks.

Click to expand...

I tested this on my Windows 8.1 machine using IE11 and the page was fully loaded after about 3 seconds.

If your mouse cursor is freezing that's a sure sign something is either being scanned or an unhandled error is being processed.

ectech said:

Retexan599 said:

An example of a really slow-to-load web site on Windows 8.1/IE11 is:

62 Windows 8 tips, tricks and secrets | News | TechRadar

Takes about 15 seconds to release the cursor.

That opens very quickly (about 3 seconds to release cursor) on my Vista/IE9 machine. If someone would try it, I would appreciate it. Thanks.

Click to expand...

I tested this on my Windows 8.1 machine using IE11 and the page was fully loaded after about 3 seconds.

If your mouse cursor is freezing that's a sure sign something is either being scanned or an unhandled error is being processed.

Click to expand...

Thanks for this feedback. Interesting to me is that, while the page is slowly loading, I can:
-move the cursor with the mouse back and forth across the window (but it won't click on, say, the right hand scroll bar).
-move to another window and the mouse/cursor are active.

As a kind of aside - I have an iPad and the site loads in about 3 seconds (wirelessly as well).

Another aside - I ran Speedtest on both the Windows 8.1 and Vista machines, and the results were very similar, around 28Mbps for each.

Well, I will live with this until something occurs to me. Thanks again.

FYI -- this problem had gotten so bad for me that I have installed the Chrome browser on my Windows 8.1 machine. Chrome displays all those too-slow-to-be-usable web sites in an instant. The difference is startling. Guess I will stick with Chrome at this point.