A couple of things you can try.
Internet Explorer Fix
Try running ChkDsk to check your drive for errors. Right click your Drive icon/ Properties/ Tools/ Error Checking.
Run the System File Checker program from the Run Box by typing.....Sfc /Scannow in it and have your XP CD handy.
No Local Site Cookies
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Possibly your Index.dat files have been corrupted and may benefit from a total deletion of the T.I.F. folder and the Cookies folder thereby allowing XP to recreate a new folder for you after a reboot or new login.
Although Cookies are shown and listed in the T.I.F. they are actually stored in a separate folder -
C:\Documents and Settings\Usernamexxxx\Cookies
Make sure your options in IE/ Tools/ Internet Options/ Advanced are correct.
Uncheck the boxes for "Install on Demand" for IE and Other programs (two boxes).
Try running temporarily with the third box "Enable Third Party Browser Extensions" unchecked and see how this goes.
"This specifies that you want to disable features you installed for use with Internet Explorer that may have been created by companies other than Microsoft.
If you encounter problems with Internet Explorer that you cannot resolve, you can use this option to help determine if third-party features are causing the problems without uninstalling the feature. You must restart Internet Explorer after turning this option on or off."
If that stops your errors, you will know where the trouble is.
If they don't work you could try repairing windows by running it over itself. You will lose all your windows updates but your files will be untouched.
How to Perform an In-Place Upgrade (Reinstallation) of Windows XP (Q315341)