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

[videobruce]

Using;XP Pro w/sp2
Browsers involved; Firefox V2 & Opera V9.25
Sites involved; Ameritrade & Yahoo Games
ISP; Earthlink DialUp
Modem; 3Com hardware on a Foxconn built MB (Dell). Stock 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't open another site, hit the back button or log back in to that site. It happens with either browser.

Also, the modem can't be disconnected either. If I right click on the icon what should be the dialog box pops up for a split second then disappears. If I right click and try to disconnect, nothing happens.

There is NO issue with anything except when sites times out. While 'active', everything seems ok. He mostly uses the PC to do on-line trading and play on-line games in between his 'trades'.

I replaced the orginal software modem w/ this 3Com hardware card which seems to dialup faster, but the problem is still there.

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

(updated situation)

 

[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.

 

[videobruce]

No one have any ideas??

I treid other forum sites like this and if I stop a page from loading because of not wanting to wait fo all the 'crap' to load, I can't do anything else with that site or open up any other site. The dialup is still connected, but it appears there is no response from the ISP.