Some possibilities that come to mind
- Have you shut down the browser and restarted it? A javascript error on google could be causing problems but closing all your windows and trying again with a hard refresh (shift-F5) would clear up that possibility
- IE9 allows for a lot of addons to be installed, some that aren’t immediately obvious – go to Tools -> Manage Add-Ons and look at all that garbage that gets installed with every type of software you put on the computer. Are any of those recent? Disable anything you don’t use and try again.
- IE9 has a lot more developer related features built in, you can throw it into different modes to try and figure out what older versions are screwing up for instance. Maybe you hit some key combination that has activated one of those modes? You can reset the options to default all at once or go through your current options at Tools -> Internet Options -> Advanced tab
- There’s always the chance for malware/adware/virus that targets IE, can you run a scan with your tools of choice?
- Run your Windows Updates if you haven’t in a while… there’s still a lot of interdependence in Windows and IE even if they’re separate products now
- if it’s a work computer on a work network, I guess it could be a result of IT policy, although I don’t know why they’d let you get to google but not click the links, I suppose it would be possible to set up, might be worth asking someone if they’re having the same issue within the organization