A strange web browser problem; any tips?

So I switched from Internet Explorer to Firefox in hopes of getting rid of this bug, but it's not going away for whatever reason. It isn't happening on my roomy's computer, so I don't think it's the internet connection--what could it be?
Sometimes, when I go to any site, it will take a damn long time loading, and then come up with the standard, "This page does not exist" or "Could not connect to server" web page or whatever. But then, lo and behold, if I click Go I instantaneously arrive at the site without any problems.
What could this be all about???

Well, it could be the network (dns configuration on your proxy for example), it could be your IE configuration, or it could be your computer.

Kindof hard to go further procedurally without knowing more info.

Did you install the latest version of AdAware with all updates? Have you installed latest security patches? Have you installed a virus checker, uptodate, and rebooted the computer since?

Compare network configuration on each computer. Are they DHCP ("obtain an IP address automatically" or static. You can see this either by typing "ipconfig /all" in a cmd box (the techie way), or opening Network Settings in the Control Panel (Start Menu -> Settings -> Control Panel, or Start Menu -> Control Panel). Do they have the same DNS servers? If there are any differences (except for IP address if explicitly specified in your roomie's computer make yours the same as his.

Compare ie proxy settings. Go to Tools | Settings, connections tab, see if "Use a proxy" is checked or not. It probably shouldnot be enabled on either.

Really, the easiest thing would be for someone who knows what theyre doing to remote you using Remote Assistance or similar. I'd offer but I have a 1-2 seconds latency to you most likely. I wouldnt really recommend accepting Remote Assistance offers from complete strangers offering l33t computer tune-ups :-/ However, if you know them and they explain what they're doing as they go along it's probably the easiest method.

Azelda

Based on what Dae reported it sounds much more like DNS cache delay at his ISP. I have noticed that Firefox will "fail" to load a page faster than IE (which I believe tries more than once). That it loads quickly on the second attempt is often a DNS lookup delay the first time.

If you wanna get really tricky you could install the Ethereal packet sniffer and filter on DNS to confirm this, but that may be more than you want to get into.

I think the fast failure is a "feature" of Firefox, but I'm not a fanboy or anything.