Firefox works with hotmail for me.
As for IE, its probably got spyware on it. I suggest:
Ad-aware for removing spyware:
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/
Hijack this for removing malware that hijacks your IE (changing the homepage, etc.):
http://www.merijn.org/
Both free, both good.
Crazed Rabbit
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