I've noticed on my Win 7 Pro x64 system that after I run Explorer or Internet Explorer, the explorer.exe and iexplore.exeprocesses never get deleted from my Windows Task List. As a result I end up with multiple processes running for each executable. Lately my IE8 displays an "IE crashed" message even though when I dismiss the dialog, IE continues to work just fine.How do I get these ghost processes to terminate on their own? Thanks. thorne

Hi thorne, Please understand that it is normal the explorer.exe process exists in Task Manager Processes list after closing all Windows Explorer windows. This is because the explorer.exe process also refers to Windows GUI shell such as the Taskbar. Regarding the Internet Explorer issue, it can be caused by the factors including add-ons, third party software, spyware infection or damaged Internet Explorer components. Let's try the suggestions below to see if the issue can be resolved. Please first scan the system using the anti-spyware software to ensure the system is clean. Also, please see if the issue occurs in Internet Explorer 8 (IE 8) with No Add-ons mode. Start Internet Explorer 8 (IE 8) with No Add-ons mode ========= To do this, Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Internet Explorer (No Add-ons). Note: If the issue does not occur after you use this method, use the Manage Add-ons option in the Tools menu to determine which add-ons are causing the issue. If the issue persists, please reset Internet Explorer by the steps below: Reset Internet Explorer ========= Note: the following steps will remove all of installed add-ons and reset IE to default settings. We need to reinstall the add-ons after resetting. 1. Click "Start", type "inetcpl.cpl" (without quotation marks) into Search bar and press "Enter" to open the Internet Options window. 2. Switch to the "Advanced" tab. 3. Click "Reset" to reset Internet Explorer settings. 4. Check "Delete personal settings" box and click "Reset" to confirm the operation. 5. Click "Close" when the resetting process is complete. 6. Close the Internet Explorer window and restart IE to check the issue. For more information about how to troubleshoot the Internet Explorer 8 issue, please refer to the following article: You cannot view, access, or load some Web pages when you use Internet Explorer 8 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/967897 What is the result? If the issue persists, please also see if the issue occurs in Clean Boot. If the issue disappears in the Clean Boot environment, we can use a 50/50 approach to quickly narrow down which entry is causing the issue. Hope this helps. Regards, Linda

The plot thickens, gets worse.When I exit IE8 normally (click X at upper left of browser window), when I restart the next session, I'm greeted with a message that states the previous session closed unexpectedly. That's not true.

OK, this IE8 behavior is erratic. How many iexplorer.exe processes are left seems to be related to how many tabs I have opened in the browser when I quit IE8. If I quit IE8 and I don't get the "browser was closed unexpectedly" message, all iexplorer.exe processes are removed.As for explorer.exe, yes there is always at least 1 process. Right now there are 3 of them and I have no Explorer windows open. Explain that !I have 2 add-ons in IE8. One is for AVG (my anti-virus program), AVG Safe Search, and the other is from Microsoft, the InformationCardSigninHelper class. I don't know why I need the Microsoft add-on.

Hi thorneNY, As you mentioned, one tab will add one "iexplore.exe" process in the Processes. This is the new design for Internet Explorer 8. For more information, please refer to IEBlog. Regarding the Internet Explorer issue, does the issue occur inNo Add-ons mode? Does the issue occur in all websites or certain website? Regarding the explorer.exe processes in the Taskbar, this is not normal. The issue can be related to the factors including virus and spyware infection. Please run AVG software to scan the system. Also, does the issue occur after completing the previous suggestions including Clean Boot mode? If the issue does not occur in Clean Boot mode, we can use a 50/50 approach to quickly narrow down which entry is causing the issue. If the issue persists, please collect the HiJackThis log file for further research: Collect HiJackThis log ============== 1. Please download HijackThis from the following link: http://www.techspot.com/download317.html HijackThis is a tool to collect some system settings information which is useful for further troubleshooting. Please Note: The third-party products discussed here are manufactured by vendors independent of Microsoft. We make no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding these products' performance or reliability. 2. Right click the downloaded HJTInstall.exe file and choose "Run as administrator". Provide administrator password or click Allow if you are prompted to do so. 3. Click the "Do a system scan and save a logfile" Button. 4. A Notepad window will appear, please click File, Save As... to save it as HJT.log (or other file name you like) on the Desktop and upload it to SkyDrive at www.skydrive.live.com Regards, Linda

I get this behavior on brand new systems with nothing but windows 7 and all updates installed. I get it when running IE with no add-ons too. I notice it is espeically likely to happen if i close and re-open IE quickly. I can reproduce it on several computers from different manufacturers with a clean install of windows only with all updates. Again i am more likely to produce it if i close and reopen quickly. Sometimes i click to launch ie and nothing comes up but the two iexplore.exe processes appear in task manager. if i click ie again it will launch and i will have 4 iexplore.exe processes for a single browser/tab session with a blank homepage. again i am able to reproduce on clean installs with nothing but windows and all updates, and on different PCs from different manufacturers. my research has shown this is the tab crash recovery in IE. furthermore i have also found that disabling the crash recovery in IE does not disable or change this behavior. therefore i have concluded that IE8's code is flawed and this behavior is a result of poor code design and poor error handling within the browser. is there a way to change this behavior? does Microsoft intend to fix this flaw?