To sort out the ad problem you are having download firefox and use that, you can install add-ons to the web browser for things like that. Adblock and Filterset.G, the first blocks adverts or any image you dont want displayed and the second is a list of URLs of adverts used on the internet which works with Adblock to block pretty much 100% of all banner ads on a website.  Also you can download another add-on called "Fasterfox" which basically "tweaks" the way in which your bandwidth is being used to load a webpage, so your browsing is faster.  I notice the difference considerably when using Firefox and then IE7, and i will never go back to IE now... only for instances where the web designer didnt test something to work in Firefox will i use IE.

Also i'm not sure but i think with adblock you can block individual images, so that the next time you go onto a thread it wont load them...

"In every colour, there's the light.
In every stone sleeps a crystal.
Remember the Shaman, when he used to say:
Man is the dream of the Dolphin"

Rich Meadows Photography