IE 8 slow performance

Today, suddenly IE 8 has a slow performance. It takes 10-15 secs until it loads a site and by clicking on a new tab, IE shows 'Connecting' for about 15-20 seconds. I have tried all the followings ideas, but non helped to resolve this:

1. Reset IE settings
2. Start IE under clean boot
3. 'Uninstall' and 'Reinstall' IE 8 (using the Win7 features)
4. Delete all cache, and temp files
5. Disable all add-ons

Note to mention that launching IE under administrator privilege, solve the 'connecting' issue, but sites loading is still slow. Also, similar behavior If I start IE as "InPrivate Browsing".

BTW, Firefox has none of those issues, thus this is not a networking problem.

Any new idea that I have not tried yet?

Thanks

Win 7 Pro x64

I did that (actually the first thing) and same slow performance issue.

One thing that can really slow down IE8 or even freeze it, is if there are a lot of 'add-ons' running while you are trying to browse, managing your add-ons can really speed up browsing. To fix try this:
In IE, go to ‘tools’ and ‘manage add-ons’.
Disabling any unnecessary add-ons may help your Internet run faster.
Try disabling add-ons with more than a .2 sec load time. (i.e. tool bars)
If you’re still not having any luck, I recommend you reinstall IE8 on your system.
-Kyler
IE 8 Outreach Team

Same exact problem as codudi: "...suddenly IE 8 has a slow performance. It takes [~20] secs until it loads a site and by clicking on a new tab, IE shows 'Connecting' for about [~20] seconds..."

I performed the following:

1. Chkdsk & sfc
2. Disk cleanup
3. Delete all IE cache, temp files, cookies, etc.
4. Start IE under clean boot
5. Disable all IE add on's
6. Installed Chrome - no problem (sites/news tabs were available <1 second

I noticed "Protected Mode: On" in the IE status bar. Once I turned it off, the performance problem disappeared.

My wife's laptop is behind a router, runs the Windows 7 firewall, and Microsoft Security Essentials. I may just leave protected mode off or run Chrome (or Firefox) unless someone has another thought? Thanks!