Problem with Internet Explorer on Vista?

[DaDude]

It happened once where I closed a window of internet explorer and the page I closed kept on coming up again and again in small windows on top of each other? If I close them, more just pop up quicker and quicker. I finally was able to stop it by going to 'Task Manager.' I know for sure it can't be a virus because the computer is only 3 days old, I've only been to a few sites (which are clean), and I did a virus scan and everything and everything is ok. this only happened once and never happened again so far. But I'm scared it might happen again. Why is this problem happening and what can I do to stop it? Should I change my browser to Firefox?

[ANON86364]

No that wouldn't be a virus, more like spyware. So scanning for viruses would not catch what is most likely causing this. Just because your PC is new doesn't mean that isn't enough time for your system to be exploited. Are you behind a router or at least have Windows Firewall enabled? You need to start with Spybot, AVG Anti-Spyware and whatever else you want to throw at it.

[DaDude]

I did run Spybot. Everything is clean.

[ANON86364]

?

I did run Spybot. Everything is clean.

Try a few other scans. These days, scans can miss what another will not.

Is it the same page that you tried to close that keeps coming up, or blank pages, or different pages?

[DaDude]

?

Try a few other scans. These days, scans can miss what another will not.

Is it the same page that you tried to close that keeps coming up, or blank pages, or different pages?

The same page. I was visiting IMDB.com and was looking up an Actor. Then I closed the window and more windows kept on popping up, all of which were the same exact IMDB page.

[franzon]

Typically, badly written add-ons can affect the browsing experience. RIES enables Internet Explorer 7 to recover from such situations.

To use RIES in Internet Explorer 7, follow these steps:

1. Click the Tools menu, and then click Internet Options.

2. On the Advanced tab, click Reset.

Note If you cannot start Internet Explorer 7 for some reason, use RIES from Internet Options in Control Panel.

How RIES works

RIES resets the following settings:

• Browser settings

RIES resets all user-defined browser settings to Internet Explorer 7 defaults. These settings include those that are set by installed extensions, toolbars, and other add-ons. If you have administrative credentials when you are running RIES, the corresponding computer settings are located in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE registry subtree. RIES resets these settings to Internet Explorer 7 defaults. These settings include all the customizations that you can make to Internet Explorer 7 by using the Internet Options dialog box. For example, this resets security settings, privacy settings, and zone settings.

• Extensibility

All extensibility entry points that you install are prevented from running automatically. If you load extensions such as toolbars, browser extensions, and Browser Helper Objects when you start Internet Explorer 7, the extensions are disabled. Additionally, the ActiveX Opt-in state of ActiveX controls are restored.

• Browsing history

RIES clears temporary Internet files, cookies, browsing history, form data, passwords, and auto-complete data.

• Manufacturer settings

RIES restores Internet Explorer 7 customizations that are applied by the OEM in the initial package. These customizations are applied to Internet Explorer 7 by using the Internet Explorer Administration Kit (IEAK). Alternatively, these customizations are applied by using the settings that are applied by the OEM during the installation of the operating system.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923737/en-us

Edited July 15, 2008 by franzon

[DaDude]

Oh, so you think it's an add-on problem and not a virus/spyware?

[Grope for Luna]

Do you have tabbed browsing enabled? Every now and then I'll click or close a window in my IE shell (Sleipnir) and an IE window will pop up with dozens of tabs opening the same page. I think it's a deformed/malicious script loaded in the page via cross site scripting, but I can't confirm. It's happened to me 5-6 times now.

[neo158]

I had this problem, but only when the machine was offline, the only way I found to kill it was to terminate the ieuser process

[Anibal P]

Best way to fix this is to install Firefox or Opera, and never use IE again