Things sometimes go crazy for no apparent reason, but can still be annoying! Perhaps traffic overload (peak time) maybe?
I have XP as well. A friend of mine, a whizz computer guru, who runs a very successful computer and electronic business, always recommends them highly says that XP is the best ever, and all of 10 his still staff use them, both in their office and their homes! From all the differerent computers that come into his shop for repairs or technical problems, XP is rarely brought in! Or if they are, it's usually a user thing, rather than an XP thing.