Live@edu hanging when downloading images, IE8, Windows 7

We have a problem which I think is with IE8 on Windows 7 Pcs, when using Live@edu email sometimes it takes forever downloading images, whether just loading from the theme or within mails. This makes users say it is not working at all. Doesn't happen everytime, even with same accounts on same Pc. Some users have found odd workarounds like clicking on the back and forwards browser arrows, or deleting a hash from the address line. Really strange , upgrading to IE9 has solved it sometimes, but that can bring other problems. Has anyone else seen this? It's driving us mad.

Thanks

Not seen this myself, but we do use IE9 site wide.

Had exactly the same issue today on a W7/IE8 laptop. Found resetting Internet Explorer settings from the advanced menu helped.