IE8.1 constantly crashes,freezes,forcing "restart"

even though I ticked the "download updates by selection only (or something similar to that)" on windows 8.1,daily a large number of updates were taking place necessitating restarts etc.
finally out of frustration (because in the middle of operation,the computer froze and crashed until the downloaded-by-itself upgrades finished) I again ticked the box for downloads of upgrades only by selection.now,IE constantly crashes,freezes,forcing "restart" to get back working again.this too with "Outlook/Hotmail" is it a case of antivirus or Windows Defender
causing this?I must add that antivirus by AVG is a total hassle and their constant reminders and/or looking to sell additional "spare parts"and programmes are a total bummer
I have no intention of renewing AVG when the annual subscription runs out
thanks