Connectivity issues w/Firefox & Chrome after latest Windows updates

This may be complete coincidence but I started having issues last week with both Firefox and Chrome after the latest Windows updates. Connectivity is at a crawl with both browsers and the speed reminds me of dial-up days. I'm running the most recent versions of both browsers. What is so odd is that IE9 is operating without issue whatsoever.

I'm running Windows 7 on this computer. Any help is appreciated because I would much rather use either Firefox or Chrome rather than IE.

Have you tried using older versions of chrome and firefox? Windows update probably patched over both of them. If you really want the newest versions of both browsers to work you can try a system restore before the update.

I was using an earlier version of Firefox and it was ridiculously slow which is why someone advised me to upgrade to the most recent version. I've tried to run a system restore but get an error message that the file or directory is corrupted and unreadable. (0x80070570)

I've since found some info on Firefox boards where other people are having the same issue with the latest version. But I still don't understand why Chrome is also affected yet IE is working fine.

IE is a software provided by windows itself, secondary browsers will be affected even though IE is working fine. Have you tried clearing your internet cache? That could be the reason for most people.

Yes, and there is no difference whatsoever. I've even tried installing older versions of Firefox to no avail. I don't like using IE but I don't know what else to do.

Can you post here what you updated in update history? So i have a clue what has happened after update.

Here are the Windows updates that took place around the same time that Firefox quit functioning:

Definition Update for Windows Defender - KB915597 (Definition 1.107.553.0)
Update for Windows 7 (KB2547666)
Update for Windows 7 (KB2545698)
Update for Windows 7 (KB2552343)
Microsoft Office File Validation Add-in
Definition Update for Windows Defender - KB15597 (Definition 1.107.834.0)
Definition Update for Windows Defender - KB15597 (Definition 1.107.1036.0)
Definition Update for Windows Defender - KB15597 (Definition 1.107.1308.0)

With all those Windows Defender updates, I'm wondering if it's possible that's what has created the problem.