Since buying a new pc with windows xp i find the internet to be slower. That is, sometimes when i click a link the progress bar appears at the bottom but it can take 3-4 minutes to actually load. If i click the link again it sometimes seems to force the issue and load up, or i can cancel all together and try again and it loads up ok.

Is there some setting i can tweak?

My system is:-
Athlon 2000
512mb ddr ram
56k modem