Some websites use Google Analytics for statistics tracking on their sites... why it's taking so long in your case, I don't know, but since it's not something that adds anything to your personal browsing, you might as well just block it.

Go here and follow the instructions:
Block Google Analytics

(P.S. don't include the quotations... you'll see what I'm talking about)

If you're still having trouble after that, let me know.

The problem persists. I added that to the file (both with a space after the last thing that was written and all together), restarted and it's exactly the same.

Are you blocking any cookies in your browser?

Not that I'm aware of...I don't think I made any changes before this started randomly happening either.

What I do know is that the other day I discovered my Firewall was off, which is a bit worrying, since I don't know for how long that lasted.

I ran a scan with AVG Free (hooray...) and it revealed I had two Trojan Pakes (I believe) and a Trojan Downloader something, something.

Might that have anything to do with it?

It might be possible, but I'm not sure.

It seems like your browser is just hanging when google analytics tries to process. I believe it places a cookie on your computer that is used for tracking purposes. Since you've made no changes, settings shouldn't be an issue but there is one thing I'm thinking... Go ahead and clear your browsing history/cache/cookies from your browser. Sometimes that solves a lot of different problems.
After you do that, go ahead and close then re-open your browser and test it out. If it's still doing it, then another alternative is to block the cookies to see if that works. Change the cookie settings so that you don't accept any at all and restart your browser.... if that works, then you'll want to set it back to accepting cookies but make an exception for google-analytics.com or whatever the site is, so that it blocks just those cookies.

If none of that works, I'll do some more research and see what I can come up with.

Apparently I haven't the faintest idea of how to disable cookies...

I was able to delete some individually (among them some called "google-analytics), but that's the only thing I could do.

I've searched about and everyone seems to say that I should go to Tools - Options - Privacy, but the only options that show up when I do that are history preferences, a clear history and a delete individual cookies one.

Oh, and I've been clearing my history quite regularly lately, anyway...

And to make it all clear, I'm using Mozilla Firefox, but the same problem persists on Chrome, which I downloaded speficically for testing purposes, except the page just goes blank and that's it.

In Firefox you can just go to Tools and in the drop down you'll see "clear recent history", then you can select all the stuff you want to clear, and the time range. It should clear everything out. But if you're having the same problem on Chrome, it's obviously not that.
If you still want to see if disabling cookies helps, in Firefox go to Tools > Options > Privacy and untick "Accept Cookies From Sites".

I did some looking around, and a lot of other people are having/have had this problem. The annoying thing is for all the cries for help, no real solutions have been given. The only thing of interest that was mentioned was disabling javascript in the browser...

You need Javascript for a lot of web pages to work optimally, so I wouldn't recommend disabling it permanently or anything, but it could be worthwhile to try disabling it simply to narrow down the problem. If it turns out to be that, maybe updating to the latest version of Java could solve it.

To do this, in Firefox, go to Tools > Options > Content... then untick "enable Javascript" OK then restart your browser. I'm not sure if this will do anything, but since it was mentioned elsewhere with positive results, I figure you can at least try.

Disabling Javascript seems to have worked. I should just download the newest version then?

Btw, there's nothing to untick in the Privacy tab, that's what's odd.

And thanks for all your help mate, you've got a respectable amount of patience for the ignorant.

I misspoke regarding updating Java. Javascript is a coding language for webpages, so Java itself has nothing to do with it. It won't be something you can update. I'm just kind of baffled as to why javascript is causing the issue. I might do some research on it, because I'm not fully aware of how google analytics works in the first place, so if I run across some info that could provide a permanent solution, I'll let you know. Until then, just keep javascript disabled until you need it for something (if a web page requires it, it will let you know).

Regarding your Privacy tab, in the drop-down box that has "firefox will:" in front of it, make sure you select "use custom settings.." in the drop-down menu. This will make the cookie options available.

I'll have to keep enabling and disabling it to be able to read my e-mail and do some schoolwork and all that, shouldn't bet too much of an issue, albeit nettlesome.

Could I just milk it while I'm at this?

What does this sound like?


ASUS N53JN

The ASUS N53JN sports a 15.6-inch HD TFT screen with a 1366 x 768 pixels resolution display. It will be also be powered by a choice between the Intel Core i5-520M (2.4GHz- 2.933GHz) and Core i3-370M (2.4 GHz). With an Intel Core inside, it is with no doubt that the N53JN comes with seamless capacities that user can enjoy.

In addition to these great features, the N53JN also comes with the following specs:

* Genuine Windows 7 Premium 64 bit OS
* 320GB/500GB (5400rpm) storage
* 4096MB RAM (2048×2) DDRIII 1066 RAM
* Blu-Ray Combo optical drive
* Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
* Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
* Built-in webcam
* SonicFocus audio technology
* 17-in-1 card reader
* Various port and jacks such as HDMI, one USB 3.0 port, two USB 2.0 ports, e-SATA and two audio jacks (headphone and SPDIF/MIC-in)
* Li-Polymer 48WH (6 cells: 4400mAh) battery

And: On the left are ports: HDMI, the network e-SATA/USB and a USB 3.0 and SDXC card reader.

On the right side is the optical drive, 2 ports s USB 2.0 and microphone jack and headphone / speaker out, also the on / off wireless button.

The ASUS N53JN price ranges from £649.99 – £999 (SRP inc VAT).

Asus N53Jn Review (video) | Laptop Review Shop

Reviews seem to be good, though sometimes the specifications are a bit fuzzy...

Even if you decide I'm pushing it (completely understand), thanks for your time once again.