Memory/Resource leak continues w/ IE 6, WinXP

[Guest]

Hello, again, Everyone,

(My apologies if this seems a bit familiar to some of you, as I'd previously
posted about this here, when I suspected that this issue was somehow related
to Google or Yahoo! toolbars, but, even though they're both uninstalled from
my PC, this issue has appeared again, so may I please ask for your
assistance?)

For reasons that escape me, my IE 6 browser can open up its regular
complement of windows in WinXP SP1 BUT, after reaching their limit, once I
then start to close some of them, I become unusually limited as to how many I
can open afterward.

Usually, it's supposed to be fairly one-to-one (close one, become able to
open another one) but, now, it's more like close two, maybe open one...if
you're good.

No, seriously, something's amiss here. This isn't supposed to happen, and
it's like not enough memory or resources are being returned to the system
after closing a window.

BTW, if I shut down all IE windows that remain open, I can then go
back...for a time...to opening the full complement of windows again, and I'm
back where I started.

Can you please guide/assist me to try and resolve this? Any questions,
please ask and I'll be happy to answer the best I can.

Thanks so much!

Bram

 

[Rob ^_^]

Hi Bram,

First up disable all your browser helpers (Internet Options - Advanced tab,
uncheck "Enable third-party browser extensions")

Restart IE.

If the problem persists, open Task Manager (Ctrl+Alt+Del) and on the
Processes tab sort them by CPU (click on the column title) to find which
process is hogging the CPU. If it is IExplore.exe then my suggestion (well
you should do this regardless, WinXP SP1 is a bit out of date!) is to do a
Windows update and get SP2 installed on your machine. This is quite a big
download so be prepared.

If disabling your browser helpers works then the problem lies with one of
your add-on toolbars. The Live toolbar (previously the MSN search toolbar)
is a known memory hog (on occasions), but you can test to find the culpret
by
1. Re-enable you browser extensions.
2. Restart IE and then disable the add-on toolbars one by one (Tools>Manage
Addons) until you find the culpret toolbar.

Above all keep your PC up-to-date with regular Windows Updates!

Regards.

 

[Guest]

Dear Rob,

Hello (again?) and thanks for responding to my post.

I will check later (I'm not there right now) about the browser extensions.

I've already been checking CPU usage, as you suggested, via the Task
Manager. One thing that seemed to be a big CPU user (though, I'd presumed,
only when nothing much else is happening) is a distributed-computing
application, BOINC, from boinc.berkeley.edu. In the last couple of days, I'd
reduced its "100% of CPU time" setting to "50%" to try and reduce exactly
what you were talking about, but, alas, this kept happening even so.

(Please note that this is not a new app for me...it's been there both before
and during this experience.)

Also, maybe I wasn't clear...I'd removed the Google toolbar when this first
started, then tried installing Yahoo!'s, thinking that might not cause it
(not that Google's should have, either...), but no go, so it, too, was then
uninstalled.

Since then, and all through this latest episode, NO toolbars should be
installed and running.

In addition, until SP1's support ended on Oct10, I'd been "religiously"
downloading/updating what Microsoft suggested, except when it clearly wasn't
for my system (i.e., network-related, etc.) or involved the MS Anti-Spyware
tool, which, I've been told, isn't as great as others out there now.

So, given all this, if disabling browser extensions does NOT resolve this,
then what else can I do, please?

Thanks again!

Bram

 

[Rob ^_^]

Hi Bram,

The solution relies on identifying the process that is the memory hog.
Another factor may be your cache folder size settings (though I am only
guessing on this.... assume a small cache size - cpu usage increases as IE
attempts to swap data from Virtual Memory to and from the cache).

Check your cache size folder settings. Internet Options - General Tab -
Settings button - recommended 50Mb to 250Mb).

Regards.

 

[Guest]

Dear Rob,

Thanks.

I'm not at that PC right now, but my gut says my cache is nearly 1.5GB, but
I can double-check later. (I'd have increased them some time ago to try and
avert a separate issue I'd been having, of the History files stopping their
recording of my visited URLs after, say, 10 weeks or so even though I'd asked
for 30.)

If my cache really IS that big, THEN what? (BTW, I believe, but can try to
confirm later, that this happens even when "System Idle Process: has a large
majority of CPU "usage".)

Pls correct me if I'm wrong...I thought the issue wasn't so much, "what's
using so much memory/resources", but "why doesn't more get returned for use
by other apps, or by the system"? I say that because, please remember, I can
open a full complement of windows at the beginning...it's when I close some,
then try to open others, that this issue makes itself known.

Oh, and, suppose disabling browser extensions "seems" to resolve this --
wouldn't that be more of removing a symptom than of curing the disease...as
I'd then not be able to use the usual browser extensions that others can, and
that I'm sure I was fully able to use previously?

Thanks again.

Bram

 

[Frank Saunders, MS-MVP OE/WM]

Hello, again, Everyone,

(My apologies if this seems a bit familiar to some of you, as I'd
previously
posted about this here, when I suspected that this issue was somehow
related
to Google or Yahoo! toolbars, but, even though they're both uninstalled
from
my PC, this issue has appeared again, so may I please ask for your
assistance?)

For reasons that escape me, my IE 6 browser can open up its regular
complement of windows in WinXP SP1 BUT, after reaching their limit, once I
then start to close some of them, I become unusually limited as to how
many I
can open afterward.

Usually, it's supposed to be fairly one-to-one (close one, become able to
open another one) but, now, it's more like close two, maybe open one...if
you're good.

No, seriously, something's amiss here. This isn't supposed to happen, and
it's like not enough memory or resources are being returned to the system
after closing a window.

BTW, if I shut down all IE windows that remain open, I can then go
back...for a time...to opening the full complement of windows again, and
I'm
back where I started.

Can you please guide/assist me to try and resolve this? Any questions,
please ask and I'll be happy to answer the best I can.

Thanks so much!

Bram

You really need to make sure the computer is malware free and then upgrade
to SP2.

Help with malware
All MS-MVP Sites.
http://aumha.org/a/parasite.htm
(http://aumha.org/a/quickfix.htm)
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware
(http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm)
(http://inetexplorer.mvps.org/darnit.html)
(http://www.mvps.org/sramesh2k/Malware_Defence.htm)

Unexplained computer behavior may be caused by deceptive software.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/827315

So How Did I Get Infected Anyway?
For quite a few people it's by installing Messenger Plus, whose ads for
malware don't identify the malware as such and try to convince you that you
owe it to the author. See also:
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=27971
Don't ever do a "default" install of anything. Always choose Custom and see
what else is being carried along. Don't install any extras you're not sure
of.

 

[Guest]

Dear Frank,

Hi, and thanks for responding to my post.

I'm checking for spyware, adware, etc., as we speak. So far, nothing more
troubling than two "coupon bar" entries that my VirusScan caught, along with
40 cookies caught by Ad-Aware.

I'd heard about WinXP SP2, but had also heard that upgrading might not be
the thing for everyone to do (i.e., there could be a benefit to staying with
SP1, perhaps as the upgrade process itself can be problematic).

Nonetheless, can you please tell me anything specific about what I'm
experiencing, presuming it isn't malware-related?

Thanks again!

Bram

 

[Frank Saunders, MS-MVP OE/WM]

Dear Frank,

Hi, and thanks for responding to my post.

I'm checking for spyware, adware, etc., as we speak. So far, nothing more
troubling than two "coupon bar" entries that my VirusScan caught, along
with
40 cookies caught by Ad-Aware.

I'd heard about WinXP SP2, but had also heard that upgrading might not be
the thing for everyone to do (i.e., there could be a benefit to staying
with
SP1, perhaps as the upgrade process itself can be problematic).

Nonetheless, can you please tell me anything specific about what I'm
experiencing, presuming it isn't malware-related?

One thing SP2 does is close some memory leaks in IE.
Also, WinXP SP1 is no longer supported and all it will get is some security
fixes. I can't think of any reason not to install SP2 if the system is free
of malware. If there is malware problems can easily occur with the upgrade.
I think this has been the cause of most of the complaints about SP2.

 

[Guest]

Dear Frank,

Thanks. I'll certainly consider it.

If I may, could I ask you for your thoughts, as an MS-MVP, about browser
extensions? Rob, above, suggested I disable them (Tools --> Internet Options
--> Advanced), which I've since done and the difference in IE response is
remarkable. At least for one night , the issue did not recur.

Still, he spoke of being able to "manage" them, and I couldn't find out
how/where to do that.

Do I risk somehow hampering my ability to surf the Internet in the way I
might like by uniformly disabling all of these extensions...and how can I
find out what extensions I already have, and be able to selectively disable
some, but not all, of them?

In addition, isn't disabling them to avoid this issue simply (while a way to
resolve at least the symptoms) nonetheless a workaround and not a "cure" for
whatever it was that was going wrong, as I'm now unable to use any of those
extensions at all?

Thanks again,
Bram

 

[Frank Saunders, MS-MVP OE/WM]

Dear Frank,

Thanks. I'll certainly consider it.

If I may, could I ask you for your thoughts, as an MS-MVP, about browser
extensions? Rob, above, suggested I disable them (Tools --> Internet
Options
--> Advanced), which I've since done and the difference in IE response is
remarkable. At least for one night , the issue did not recur.

Still, he spoke of being able to "manage" them, and I couldn't find out
how/where to do that.

Do I risk somehow hampering my ability to surf the Internet in the way I
might like by uniformly disabling all of these extensions...and how can I
find out what extensions I already have, and be able to selectively
disable
some, but not all, of them?

In addition, isn't disabling them to avoid this issue simply (while a way
to
resolve at least the symptoms) nonetheless a workaround and not a "cure"
for
whatever it was that was going wrong, as I'm now unable to use any of
those
extensions at all?

If there are some you really like and use, uninstall all of them, then
download and reinstall the ones you really use to get the latest versions.
Do this one at a time, testing in between for a couple days to make sure
they do not cause problems. I really don't see how any of them improve your
ability to surf the net.

As a general rule I don't like "browser enhancements". This is partly from
spending so much time having to remove bad ones from other people's
machines. I will, however, concede that some people find some very useful.
If you do use any, turn them off before updating and turn them back on one
at a time to see which cause trouble. This is especially true about
updating to IE7, which you presently cannot do. In addition, check back
regularly for new versions, which usually fix bugs you might not yet be
aware of. I really, really disapprove of the Yahoo toolbar. I have seen it
cause too much trouble.

IE6 SP2 <G> has a Manage toolbars option on the Tools sub-menu.

 

[Guest]

Thanks, again, Frank.

Thing is, other than my having had the Google Toolbar installed, and perhaps
if one considers the Flash, RealPlayer, WindowsMedia, etc., plug-ins as
"extensions", I have no idea what this term covers for me...and am unsure how
to find out. Can you please enlighten me somewhat?

(I'd searched at microsoft.com for more info, but the best{?} result there
was a jargon-filled page at MSDN that lost me...and I consider myself fairly
technically savvy... )

Also, certainly as of earlier this week, Google Toolbar was NOT installed,
yet there's an apparent improvement in performance after I'd "disabled" the
browser extensions, so go figure (and I'm hoping you will...help me figure,
that is, please... )

I think my IE6 is SP1, even though its version is
6.0.2800.1106.xpsp2.050301-1526, but I definitely don't see a "Manage
Toolbars" option under Tools.

Bram

 

[Frank Saunders, MS-MVP OE/WM]

Google, Flash and RealPlayer are all add-ons. Well, I guess Mesia Player
is, too, but it shouldn't be a problem. I know Google and Flash can be
problems and I'd bet RealPlayer causes problems.

Yes, that's IE6 SP1. IE6 SP2 comes with SP2 for WQinXP.

 

[Guest]

Dear Frank,

Thanks, but is there a way within SP1 to see just what are considered to be
"browser extensions"?

Also, are they all really disabled now? If so, then I'd be surprised were I
to reach a site that had a Flash (or other) element on its page...that ran.

Thanks again,
Bram