I have a problem with Internet Explorer and need help fixing it. I run Vista x32 machine with 2 Gb memory with all current updates. I was using IE-8 for about 3 years without any serious problems. Approximately 3-4 weeks ago my computer started freezing
with CPU running close to 100%. The only way to get it back was to disconnect power and remove the battery. I noticed that usually at that time I was using IE or closing it. So, I decided to update to IE-9, but the problem still persisted and I started investigate.
When I open IE, the Task Manager shows two iexplore.exe processes running. If I open additional windows or tabs, more iexplore.exe processes will show up. All that is fine, untill I close all IE windows. The iexplore.exe processes are still running in the
Task Manager. Well, some of them might close in about 15 seconds, but a few would keep running forever. I would have to end the processes in Task Manager to close it, which works sometimes. But frequently there would be one iexplore.exe process that would
not close via Task Manager. It would start using CPU >50% to 90% and my computer will freeze. All these appear to be legitimate processes refering to iexplore.exe located in the C:\Program files\Internet Explorer folder.
One more additional detail. When I use Adobe Flash Active X in Internet Explorer and then close the Browser, Adobe Flash Active X process keeps running and does not close - never. Even if on some rare occasion iexplore.exe processes would close upon closing
IE windows, the Flash Active X would be running in Task Manager. I have to kill this process in Task Manager every time. I have uninstalled the Flash Player (using the Adobe uninstall file), rebooted and installed Flash Player again. No difference.
What I have done:
1) Started IE without add-ons: does not help. Did a complete Reset of IE: does not help.
2) Uninstalled IE-9, still the same problem with IE-8. Uninstalled IE-8, IE-7 was actually working fine and very fast. Re-installed IE-8 (from Microsoft site): the same problem. Re-installed IE-9 (from Microsoft site): the same problem.
3) Scanned my computer with numerous AV programs: Microsoft Essentials (my default AV program), Avast, Avira, Emsisoft, Trend-Micro, Malwarebytes, SuperAntiSpyware, Spybot, Eset. Other than a few cookies, which were removed - nothing was found.
4) I ran system file checker toolI (sfc) twice and both times the answer was " did not find any integrity violations".
Firefox browser works beautifully without any problems. All other programs that I have on my computer do not create any problems. The only problem is IE. Firefox is a nice browser, but I still would like to have IE functioning on my machine.
Can you suggest any ways to fix this problem?
Thank you.