IE8 hangs after N tabs have been opened.

[Greg Collins]

I frequently open multiple tabs from news sites and then peruse the tabs at
my leisure. After so many tabs have been opened (even when closing tabs I'm
done with--it doesn't have anything to do with total number of tabs open at
a time), I find that IE stops retrieving the web pages.

Sometimes this can be fixed with CTRL+K (open current page in new tab).
Sometimes it is fixed with CTRL+N (open current page in new window). But
then after a while it just stops working altogether. Then I have to copy all
the links to a file or drag the pages to a folder, close down all IE windows
and relaunch. Suddenly everything works again.

Perhaps this is a memory leak in IE?

Ideas?

 

[VanguardLH]

Greg Collins wrote:

> I frequently open multiple tabs from news sites and then peruse the tabs at
> my leisure. After so many tabs have been opened (even when closing tabs I'm
> done with--it doesn't have anything to do with total number of tabs open at
> a time), I find that IE stops retrieving the web pages.
>
> Sometimes this can be fixed with CTRL+K (open current page in new tab).
> Sometimes it is fixed with CTRL+N (open current page in new window). But
> then after a while it just stops working altogether. Then I have to copy all
> the links to a file or drag the pages to a folder, close down all IE windows
> and relaunch. Suddenly everything works again.
>
> Perhaps this is a memory leak in IE?
>
> Ideas?

Yet tried using IE8's no add-ons mode and retest?

 

[Leonard Grey]

In response to a challenge from another poster, I once opened 40 tabs
with IE 8. All web pages loaded fine. I had to use Quick Tabs to see
everything, but all the pages were there.
---
Leonard Grey
Errare humanum est

Greg Collins wrote:
> I frequently open multiple tabs from news sites and then peruse the tabs
> at my leisure. After so many tabs have been opened (even when closing
> tabs I'm done with--it doesn't have anything to do with total number of
> tabs open at a time), I find that IE stops retrieving the web pages.
>
> Sometimes this can be fixed with CTRL+K (open current page in new tab).
> Sometimes it is fixed with CTRL+N (open current page in new window). But
> then after a while it just stops working altogether. Then I have to copy
> all the links to a file or drag the pages to a folder, close down all IE
> windows and relaunch. Suddenly everything works again.
>
> Perhaps this is a memory leak in IE?
>
> Ideas?

 

[VanguardLH]

Leonard Grey wrote:

> In response to a challenge from another poster, I once opened 40 tabs
> with IE 8. All web pages loaded fine. I had to use Quick Tabs to see
> everything, but all the pages were there.

I've had 72 tabs open but ran out of memory (they weren't text-only pages)
before IE starting getting overly slow probably due to excessive paging.
However, you can hit web pages that deliberately attempt to consume your CPU
and bandwidth by doing refreshes at very short intervals or by constantly
downloading streams of new content (even if YOU don't see a change in the
page because the new content looks just like the old content). Even with
just a couple tabs open, having visited one of these rude busy-making pages
can make opening other tabs very slow or using the other tabs for already
opened pages.

 

[Robert Aldwinckle]

"Greg Collins" <gcollins_at_msn_dot_com> wrote in message
news:85E6591B-DD81-4B31-8071-16C4CBAD68BD@microsoft.com...
> I frequently open multiple tabs from news sites and then peruse the tabs
> at my leisure. After so many tabs have been opened (even when closing tabs
> I'm done with--it doesn't have anything to do with total number of tabs
> open at a time), I find that IE stops retrieving the web pages.
>
> Sometimes this can be fixed with CTRL+K (open current page in new tab).
> Sometimes it is fixed with CTRL+N (open current page in new window). But
> then after a while it just stops working altogether. Then I have to copy
> all the links to a file or drag the pages to a folder, close down all IE
> windows and relaunch. Suddenly everything works again.
>
> Perhaps this is a memory leak in IE?
>

> Ideas?


Are these tabs all sessions with the same "news" server? If so, even if
you have broadband and the connections are not closing completely IE is
prevented from establishing more with the same server. Originally the
limit was 2 but in IE8 it was supposedly raised but only for broadband
users. You could use TCPView or netstat to check on this idea.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897437.aspx

Apparently you could use TPCView to control problem connections too.

<quote>
You can close established TCP/IP connections (those labeled with a state of
ESTABLISHED) by selecting File|Close Connections, or by right-clicking on a
connection and choosing Close Connections from the resulting context menu.
</quote>

That would be an interesting workaround if that is what is causing your
problem symptom.

Thanks for this bit of serendipity. ; )


Robert Aldwinckle
---

 

[dtresearch]

I am having this problem with ONE (and only one) of my XP computers. I have read and tried every solution I could find, including removing all the add-ons, the more drastic version that erases all the passwords and cookies, and removing and reinstalling IE8 (which temporarily installs a happily functioning IE7). None of these solutions has effected the problem at all. The easiest way to re-create the problem is to open a page at, for example Newegg, for, for example, motherboards, and then open a few boards in different tabs. Try to close the browser, and then it is click, click, click, and then send the error report to Microsoft (as if this will actually do any good). This rules out all the theories about complex web sites, although the problem is in no way related to, or limited to Newegg. I just use that site a lot to compare hardware in different tabs. I continuously use a recognized firewall/ antivirus /antispyware package and have also scanned the computer with other products, including the latest version of Lavasoft. I have never had the problem even once with any of my other XP or Windows 7 computers though I regularly use them all to visit the same web sites, and I have mostly the same software installed on all of them. I am reassonably sure I could make the problem go away (without solving it) by wiping the hard drive and reinstalling Windows. I will probably not do this; instead, I will probably semi-retire the computer with the problem, wait to see if a solution emerges, and migrate to a Windows 7 computer as soon as I have sufficient hardware to properly run the 64-bit version (as my current 32-bit Windows 7 computer does not have sufficient horsepower to replace the problematic one). There seem to be two categories of responders to this problem: glib responses from those who do not have the problem with utterly useless and pontentially time-consuming and disruptive suggestions, and despondent responses from those having the problem who are either ready to tear out their hair or just buy a new computer. If anyone has any intelligent suggestions as to how to diagnose and/or peremptorily solve this problem (short of wiping the hard drive and reinstalling Windows), I would very much like to hear them.

 

[KCB]

"undisclosed" wrote in message
news:ec06a43a4c5657398f075ad10645c7e2@nntp-gateway.com...
>
> I am having this problem with ONE (and only one) of my XP computers. I
> have read and tried every solution I could find, including removing all
> the add-ons, the more drastic version that erases all the passwords and
> cookies, and removing and reinstalling IE8 (which temporarily installs a
> happily functioning IE7). None of these solutions has effected the
> problem at all. The easiest way to re-create the problem is to open a
> page at, for example Newegg, for, for example, motherboards, and then
> open a few boards in different tabs. Try to close the browser, and then
> it is click, click, click, and then send the error report to Microsoft
> (as if this will actually do any good). This rules out all the theories
> about complex web sites, although the problem is in no way related to,
> or limited to Newegg. I just use that site a lot to compare hardware in
> different tabs. I continuously use a recognized firewall/ antivirus
> /antispyware package and have also scanned the computer with other
> products, including the latest version of Lavasoft. I have never had the
> problem even once with any of my other XP or Windows 7 computers though
> I regularly use them all to visit the same web sites, and I have mostly
> the same software installed on all of them. I am reassonably sure I
> could make the problem go away (without solving it) by wiping the hard
> drive and reinstalling Windows. I will probably not do this; instead, I
> will probably semi-retire the computer with the problem, wait to see if
> a solution emerges, and migrate to a Windows 7 computer as soon as I
> have sufficient hardware to properly run the 64-bit version (as my
> current 32-bit Windows 7 computer does not have sufficient horsepower to
> replace the problematic one). There seem to be two categories of
> responders to this problem: glib responses from those who do not have
> the problem with utterly useless and pontentially time-consuming and
> disruptive suggestions, and despondent responses from those having the
> problem who are either ready to tear out their hair or just buy a new
> computer. If anyone has any intelligent suggestions as to how to
> diagnose and/or peremptorily solve this problem (short of wiping the
> hard drive and reinstalling Windows), I would very much like to hear
> them.
>
>
> --
> dtresearch

Have you tried to Reset IE8? This is through Internet Options/Advanced
tab/Reset button (at bottom)

 

[dtresearch]

Yes. That was the solution that erased all the passwords and cookies. This was one of several possible solutions on the Microsoft web site.

 

[dtresearch]

I forgot to mention that I sometimes stave off this problem by closing the tabs individually from left to right. Some of them take a second or two to close and I think it's going to hang, but it doesn't. Also, when it hangs and I force it to shut down, there are usually a few "residual" IE tasks visible in Process Explorer. It doesn't seem to make any difference whether or not I "kill" these residual tasks; it works the same when I start it up again. Another annoying aspect of this problem occurrs when I have, say, half a dozen tabs open pointing to, for example, computer hardware. Then I open a new IE window, say, to check out warranties or rebates. Finished with this window, I close it, forgetting to do the left-to-right thing (which doesn't always work anyway). Then it hangs, and, of course, the original window hangs also. Then I have to force it to close, which, of course, closes both windows. When I restart IE, it offers to restore the last session, but only 2 or 3 of the lost tabs come back. This issue is so vexing that I try to remember to go to another computer when I'm doing this kind of work.

 

[KCB]

"undisclosed" wrote in message
news:8e34ca4f7acca6da0e6d22b41375c141@nntp-gateway.com...
>
> I forgot to mention that I sometimes stave off this problem by closing
> the tabs individually from left to right. Some of them take a second or
> two to close and I think it's going to hang, but it doesn't. Also, when
> it hangs and I force it to shut down, there are usually a few "residual"
> IE tasks visible in Process Explorer. It doesn't seem to make any
> difference whether or not I "kill" these residual tasks; it works the
> same when I start it up again. Another annoying aspect of this problem
> occurrs when I have, say, half a dozen tabs open pointing to, for
> example, computer hardware. Then I open a new IE window, say, to check
> out warranties or rebates. Finished with this window, I close it,
> forgetting to do the left-to-right thing (which doesn't always work
> anyway). Then it hangs, and, of course, the original window hangs also.
> Then I have to force it to close, which, of course, closes both windows.
> When I restart IE, it offers to restore the last session, but only 2 or
> 3 of the lost tabs come back. This issue is so vexing that I try to
> remember to go to another computer when I'm doing this kind of work.
>
>
> --
> dtresearch

Take a look at this registry fix:
http://iefaq.info/index.php?action=artikel&cat=42&id=133&artlang=en

 

[dtresearch]

"undisclosed" wrote in message
news:8e34ca4f7acca6da0e6d22b41375c141@nntp-gateway.com...

Take a look at this registry fix:
Internet Explorer FAQ - Repair IE8 (IE7)

Whoa. A little scary, but what the heck... Amazing. It ran, it said "successful". So far, it has passed the "Newegg" test. I was able to open a bunch of hard drives in tabs all across the screen, then click the big red "X" and make them all go away. It has not caused any noticable side-effects, and, as far as I can tell at this point, it appears fixed. Thanks a bundle. How ever did you find this? I'll get back in a few days with an update. If it breaks, I'll probably get back sooner. Thanks again.

 

[dtresearch]

Oops. Oh well. It hung again. I had my hopes. I wonder what Microsoft does with all those error reports? I tried to include some or all here but it wasn't where the message in the box said it was. I am out of ideas.

 

[KCB]

"undisclosed" wrote in message
news:121e3e72289f79f08fdb2c24c04cac72@nntp-gateway.com...
>
> Oops. Oh well. It hung again. I had my hopes. I wonder what Microsoft
> does with all those error reports? I tried to include some or all here
> but it wasn't where the message in the box said it was. I am out of
> ideas.
>
>
> --
> dtresearch

Sorry the to hear the fix didn't stick. Is there some other program
possibly corrupting your IE install? Have you tried 'No Add-ons' mode of
IE? Maybe something wasn't un-installed properly, and is still affecting
things.

 

[dtresearch]

Sorry the to hear the fix didn't stick. Is there some other program
possibly corrupting your IE install? Have you tried 'No Add-ons' mode of
IE? Maybe something wasn't un-installed properly, and is still affecting
things.[/quote]

For what it's worth, I ran the script again a day or two ago and it hasn't locked up since. I haven't rebooted since then. I have done no system restores along the way. I tried the 'No Add-ons" thing early in the process and it didn't help. I will try it again when the problem re-emerges. Truthfully, if I can keep it at bay by re-running the script, I have no problem with that. When the final Windows 7 machine is ready, I intend to use VNC and Windows networking to connect to the Windows XP machine to facilitate the migration. That's why I don't want to "mess up" or reinstall the XP system. I did a cursory check to make sure there are no "registry cleaners" ar anything like that installed. I am going to do a more thorough audit of all installed software, probably using Belarc Advisor, to make sure there is nothing "weird" installed that might have been overlooked. I try to do all testing of "questionable" or "untried" software under VMware Workstation, but not always.

 

[dtresearch]

"undisclosed" wrote in message
news:121e3e72289f79f08fdb2c24c04cac72@nntp-gateway.com...
Have you tried 'No Add-ons' mode of IE?

Truthfully, I forgot how to do this. the link is here: Troubleshooting and Internet Explorer?s (No Add-ons) Mode - IEBlog - Site Home - MSDN Blogs . Running IE without Java may have limited usefulness, bit I'm now prepared to try it.

So far, the most reliable way to avoid the problem is to repeatedly close the left tab until there is only one tab remaining, then ckick the red "x" (as opposed to clicking the red "x" with a bunch of tabs open). During this process, one or two tabs may take a second or two to close; others close right away. The "slow-closing" behavior is remeniscent of and may or may not be related to the hanging behavior.

The problem tends to manifest itself when I get busy and forget to close the tabs individually. I have gone over the list of add-ons and they are mostly disabled evcept Java. Thanks for all your help. As soon as I get the 64-bit Windows 7 computer built, I will mostly stop using the one with the problem.

 

[Jeff Layman]

"undisclosed" wrote in message
news:036db9e041b33f7a4d4eef2e43c82435@nntp-gateway.com...
>
> KCB;1800834 Wrote:
>> "undisclosed" wrote in message
>> news:121e3e72289f79f08fdb2c24c04cac72@nntp-gateway.com...
>> Have you tried 'No Add-ons' mode of IE?
>
> Truthfully, I forgot how to do this. the link is here: 'Troubleshooting
> and Internet Explorer?s (No Add-ons) Mode - IEBlog - Site Home - MSDN
> Blogs' (http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ie/archive/2006/07/25/678113.aspx) .
> Running IE without Java may have limited usefulness, bit I'm now
> prepared to try it.
>
> So far, the most reliable way to avoid the problem is to repeatedly
> close the left tab until there is only one tab remaining, then ckick the
> red "x" (as opposed to clicking the red "x" with a bunch of tabs open).
> During this process, one or two tabs may take a second or two to close;
> others close right away. The "slow-closing" behavior is remeniscent of
> and may or may not be related to the hanging behavior.
>
> The problem tends to manifest itself when I get busy and forget to
> close the tabs individually. I have gone over the list of add-ons and
> they are mostly disabled evcept Java. Thanks for all your help. As soon
> as I get the 64-bit Windows 7 computer built, I will mostly stop using
> the one with the problem.

Don't bet on your problem going away when you have Win7x64...

--

Jeff

 

[KCB]

"undisclosed" wrote in message
news:036db9e041b33f7a4d4eef2e43c82435@nntp-gateway.com...
>
> KCB;1800834 Wrote:
>> "undisclosed" wrote in message
>> news:121e3e72289f79f08fdb2c24c04cac72@nntp-gateway.com...
>> Have you tried 'No Add-ons' mode of IE?
>
> Truthfully, I forgot how to do this. the link is here: 'Troubleshooting
> and Internet Explorer?s (No Add-ons) Mode - IEBlog - Site Home - MSDN
> Blogs' (http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ie/archive/2006/07/25/678113.aspx) .
> Running IE without Java may have limited usefulness, bit I'm now
> prepared to try it.

Click Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Internet Explorer (No
Add-ons). I copied the shortcut to my quicklaunch bar because I like
running no add-ons mode as SOP.

>
> So far, the most reliable way to avoid the problem is to repeatedly
> close the left tab until there is only one tab remaining, then ckick the
> red "x" (as opposed to clicking the red "x" with a bunch of tabs open).
> During this process, one or two tabs may take a second or two to close;
> others close right away. The "slow-closing" behavior is remeniscent of
> and may or may not be related to the hanging behavior.
>
> The problem tends to manifest itself when I get busy and forget to
> close the tabs individually. I have gone over the list of add-ons and
> they are mostly disabled evcept Java. Thanks for all your help. As soon
> as I get the 64-bit Windows 7 computer built, I will mostly stop using
> the one with the problem.
>
>
> --
> dtresearch

 

[dtresearch]

"undisclosed" wrote in message
news:036db9e041b33f7a4d4eef2e43c82435@nntp-gateway.com...
Don't bet on your problem going away when you have Win7x64...
Jeff

So far I don't have the problem in Win7x32, or any other XP system, for that matter. I don't want to make the Win7x32 system my primary system because I need more GB's of ram for VMware, and the various OS'es I need to run under it. If I can afford it, I want to stick in 16GB from the getgo, so I won't run into incompatibility issues later when I can no longer send stuff back.

"undisclosed" wrote in message
news:036db9e041b33f7a4d4eef2e43c82435@nntp-gateway.com...
Click Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Internet Explorer (No
Add-ons). I copied the shortcut to my quicklaunch bar because I like
running no add-ons mode as SOP.

I'm going to try doing that also. I did find it, eventually. On my new system, I'm going to use "Deep Freeze" (which they use on the systems at the college) on the host OS. That way, nothing can make permanent changes to my system unless I say so. I'm going to be cautious what I allow in there.

I believe I can tentatively say I have found, and removed, the cause of this problem. I found a disabled toolbar under the "unknown owner" section with cryptic names of components. I put these names into Google and it came back with the software name, as well as a plethera of problem descriptions. It is MyHeritage Family Tree Builder v. 4.0.0.897. After discovering this, I uninstalled it, but my security software prevented it from making unauthorized changes to my system, so its entry is still in Add/remove programs, and it may not have uninstalled completely. I don't know if there are remaining pieces or not.

I immediately tested IE and still had the problem. However, after rebooting the computer, I tested it again, and could not recreate the problem. I have not been able to recreate it since, so I am tentatively calling it gone. The cryptic components dissappeared from the add-ons. I really hope this is it.

 

[dtresearch]

I was mistaken. The problem has not gone away. I tried running with no add-ons. On more than one occasion, IE8 took LONG (more than 5 seconds on a fast computer) to shut down in "no add-ons" mode. I got tired of the gold bar telling me that I was in "no add-ons mode", so I stopped doing this, but instead disabled all add-ons, then enabled Flash (because I needed it). I now have the "long shutdown" problem and the "no shutdown" problem on different occasions. In both situations, IE8 "thinks" it has not shutdown properly, and asks me if I want to restore the last session when I again start it.

I always send the error report to Microsoft. Is there anything in this report that I, or someone with more knowhow in this area, could use to diagnose the problem?

I have been delayed in building the "replacement" system (due to issues, problems and questions surrounding SSD's and/or SAS on desktop systems), so I will probably reinstall Windows XP on this computer. (I have never had the problem on any of my other Windows XP computers or on my (one 32 bit) Windows 7 computer. I also didn't have the problem during my brief test of Windows 7 x64) I will do the reinstallation on a new hard drive, and afterwards restore a backup of the old drive to a folder on the new drive in order to obtain my old data and leave the old drive intact. Therefore, the old drive will remain available and bootable in case I want to look back into this issue.

If anyone has any further suggestions or comments, it would be better to mention them before I do this change.

I have recently become suspicious of Sidekick 98, which I have relied upon extensively for my appointments and contacts for more than ten years. It seems to interact with IE8 in an unwanted way (although it is not supposed to) and may be involved. Also Eudora 7.1.0.9, although I am less suspicious about it. These are both "legacy" applications that are not run on the other computers and are very important to me. Sorry about not mentioning these sooner.