Delay On Opening of IE 6.0.3790.0

[MARK ROCKMAN]

I'm keeping my Microsoft software (OS=Windows 2003)
up-to-date with Windows Update. So I'm running the latest
IE version, presumably. Lately, I notice IE takes more
than 10 seconds between the time I launch it using the IE
icon (on the taskbar) and the time the browser window
finishes painting. By contrast, Mozilla opens immediately
to the same web page. I've checked. IE is not waiting for
data to arrive from the web site host. So, is this a
problem? I find it annoying to wait. It is doubly
annoying that there seems to be no earthly reason for the
delay.

 

[Frank Saunders, MS-MVP]

I'm keeping my Microsoft software (OS=Windows 2003)
up-to-date with Windows Update. So I'm running the latest
IE version, presumably. Lately, I notice IE takes more
than 10 seconds between the time I launch it using the IE
icon (on the taskbar) and the time the browser window
finishes painting. By contrast, Mozilla opens immediately
to the same web page. I've checked. IE is not waiting for
data to arrive from the web site host. So, is this a
problem? I find it annoying to wait. It is doubly
annoying that there seems to be no earthly reason for the
delay.

See
Dealing with Unwanted Spyware, Parasites, Toolbars and Search Engines
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm

 

[MARK ROCKMAN]

It turns out the problem I reported had something to do
with the configuration of my five-computer one-subnet
network which otherwise appeared to function perfectly.
The problem went away when I deployed a DHCP server on the
network. I speculate the delay of IE opening has
something to do with IE attempting to "scope out" the HTTP
proxy situation. Evidently, it was not getting the
information it wanted. The task it had set for itself
timed out. So it threw its hands into the air in
resignation and proceeded to do without. From an
administrative point of view, one would prefer a
configuration to succeed always or fail always with
comment or succeed with comment (e.g. a note in a file
saying it is unhappy and why). Malfunctions (like a >10
sec. opening time without comment) are not good because
they don't necessary lead to immediate resolution.