PctSpk Freezing XP Home whilst Browsing

A friend of mine is having a pb with a laptop. When he clicks on a link in IE, the entire machine sometimes freezes and the only way out is to switch it off. This happens simultaneously with a Stop event:

Searching in Help and Support for /AUXSOURCE got me nowhere. Searching on Google has told me that (a) this is something to do with PcTel modems, and PcTel modems aren't very good, and (b) that this particular problem seems to me most popular with non-English speakers - bizarre, but inconvenient. So all I can do is start guessing at solutions. I don't like doing that on someone else's PC, in case I make things worse, so if you know what causes this problem, I would be pleased to hear from you.

One additional piece of info, it does this even when he is browsing via a broadband router, not just when he is on dial-up.

 

That's correct (hence the PcTel software).

I just looked up the model number - HSP56MR.

 

Thanks. PcTel do seem to have a poor reputation for software; have you encountered this one before, or is your suggestion intelligent guesswork (it was pretty much what I planned to do if someone didn't step forward and say, "yes, PcTel modems do this and the cure is... ")? I'm trying to get a fix on confidence level before I start tinkering.