IE7 Can't display .GIFs?

Hi all, I've had this weird problem for the past month or so where my IE7 browser won't display any .gifurl==http://=http:///url pictures. It'll show a random moment like it's paused, but it won't play it. I can take the link, put it in firefox, and it'll be perfectly fine. It seems to have just changed overnight because I didn't make any changes to my computer lately. Does anybody know what could be causing this?

P.S. - I'm not switching to another browser, I've used firefox and truely hate it, and same with Google Chrome.

Thanks alot.

did you download the updates for IE?

May I ask why you hate Firefox? If it works with Firefox, why bother?

Try clearing your temporary files and cache.

Travman - As far as I know everything is up to date.

TFOAF - I've cleared everything multiple times, still no luck.

ajasax - I've always found my IE to be faster, even with the "fix" that makes it a bit faster. Plus I'm just so used to it I prefer it over firefox. Not to mention my computer is quiet enough for me to hear a pin drop but when firefox opens up it instally sounds like a jet engine. But I've tried everything with my IE, including totally reinstalling it, so it looks like I might make the switch soon.

Thanks for your help everybody.