System hang when I open IE

[Guest]

I am running Windows XP Home and in the last week I cannot use IE. When IE
opens it starts draining all memory from the system until the system and
virtual memory are full. I have opened the task manager prior to opening IE
and the incline on the graph is pretty steep, that is, until the system stops
responding.

It happens every time I open IE and is easy to duplicate. I have removed the
only program that had an update in the relevant time period, but it hasn't
helped. (Full Tilt Poker updated their program recently, but it works fine
after the update on my Win2K machine.)

This is specific to IE. I was using IE 6.0 and was able to port over a
version of IE 7.0 beta. The problem still exists. I also ported over Firefox,
but I do not have the same problem with different browsers.

If it's relevant, I've tried looking in the event logs, but I don't see
anything that seems to be relevant, but I'm not an expert. Nothing shows up
under the Internet Explorer logs.

I have run a full virus scan with updated definitions, Spy-bot, etc. I have
cleared the history, IE stored pages, etc.

I practice safe computing, but apparently I missed something along the way.
Any ideas?

 

[Rob ^_^]

Hi Jeffrey,

It is only a guess but I suspect that it is an IE add-in that may be causing
your problem.
You can test this by disabling your third-party browser extensions.

Go to your Control Panel and select the Internet Options applet. On the
Advanced tab you will find an option to 'Enable third-party browser
extensions', uncheck it.

Then try starting IE. If it starts ok then you will know that it is an
Add-in that is causing the problem. You will then have to do some detective
work to find which add-in is causing the problem and remove it using the
Add/Remove Programs applet in the Control Panel.

Regards.

 

[Guest]

Wow! Thanks a bunch. This wonderful suggestion was right on the money and my
system is working fine now.


For those who are curious, I have the following Add-ons loaded in IE (and
some Browser Helper Objects):
*ActiveX Control
Microsoft Shell UI Helper
Shockwave Flash Object

*Browser Extensions
Bodog Poker (I might have load this lately?)
Research (?)
Sun Java Console
Windows Messenger

*Toolbars
Google's beta toolbar, updated a few weeks before the problem started;
MSN Search Toolbar, part of Microsoft's Desktop Search, which integrates
with IE and allows tabs in IE6
Norton Antivirus
Plaxo
SnagIt

None of the above have caused me trouble before, though Desktop Search was
an occassional resource hog. I'm not sure why Bodog needs a tie into the
browser, but since I've got IE 7 beta up now I'm not going to bother with any
applets I can avoid for the near future.

And IE7 allows you to manage your Add-ons individuality, so I suppose my
research

Thanks again, Rob! Now my machine doesn't freeze on me anymore.

 

[Guest]

got the same problem and found that BOTH adobe reader 8 and the adobe
flashplayer cause this problem. I reverted to an older version of them and
everything works fine