# Help! Internet Explorer crashes **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 2, 2004, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-internet-explorer-crashes/243180 "2004-05-02T19:18:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2004, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-internet-explorer-crashes/243180/1 "2004-05-02T19:18:10Z")
I have IE 6, and it’s been serving me well up until recently. It has begun to freeze randomly. Maybe once in a couple of hours of web surfing. I must use the ol’ Three-Fingered Salute to close IE and restart it. This didn’t happen before. Also, when I shut down the computer, I get a message that Explorer is not responding. I must hit the ‘End Now’ button to kill the app so my computer can finish shutting down. This is despite the fact that I closed IE before shutting down. I can think of 2 events which might be the cause: 1. I installed a new hard drive. I initially set it up as a slave, and then used a program that came with the drive to clone over the contents of my old hard drive. Now it serves as my main hard drive. Everything seems to be functioning properly, except for the aforementioned problems. 2. I upgraded my old Norton SystemWorks 2002 to Norton SystemWorks 2004 Professional. I understand that Norton programs have been known to cause conflicts. I have Windows XP, BTW. Has anyone had these problems? Any suggestions? ---
**Author:** ![Optihut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/edb3f5/32.png) [@Optihut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Optihut)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2004, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-internet-explorer-crashes/243180/2 "2004-05-02T20:25:50Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > Has anyone had these problems? Any suggestions? I didn’t have those problems, but I’ve had other problems with IE. My suggestion is this: Sounds like a great opportunity to switch browsers. Mozilla is very nice, imho. > **[Internet for people, not profit](https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/)** > > Mozilla is the not-for-profit behind the lightning fast Firefox browser. We put people over profit to give everyone more power online. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2004, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-internet-explorer-crashes/243180/3 "2004-05-02T20:38:06Z")
Sorry if I am stating the obvious, but have you emptied your temporary internet files lately? If that folder gets too large, it can cause that problem. Go to your browser toolbar, hit **Tools/Internet Options** , about halfway down you will see **Temporary Internet Files** , and hit the **Delete Files** button. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2004, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-internet-explorer-crashes/243180/4 "2004-05-03T02:52:22Z")
I just deleted the temprary internet files. We’ll see if that helps. And I hate to disappoint the Microsoft-is-evil-incarnate crowd, but I’m not interested in switching browsers. Until a month ago (when I did the aforementioned upgrades) I’ve never had any trouble with IE. ---
**Author:** ![Optihut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/edb3f5/32.png) [@Optihut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Optihut)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2004, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-internet-explorer-crashes/243180/5 "2004-05-03T04:17:26Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > And I hate to disappoint the Microsoft-is-evil-incarnate crowd, but I’m not interested in switching browsers. Until a month ago (when I did the aforementioned upgrades) I’ve never had any trouble with IE. Fair enough. In my case it’s not so much a “microsoft is evil” mindset, but rather a case of having one bad experience too many. At one point I was so fed up with the pop-up terror that I simply deleted IE - so in a way it’s my own fault that my OS stopped working, but that was the last straw. I switched and then noticed that Mozilla actually had a few nice features that IE doesn’t have. But, if you’re happy with IE, who am I to argue 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2004, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-internet-explorer-crashes/243180/6 "2004-05-03T04:23:05Z")
I also strongly suggest you download at least two free spyware spotters, such as ad-aware and spybot, and run them over your machine. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2004, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-internet-explorer-crashes/243180/7 "2004-05-03T12:00:41Z")
Well, the computer shut down without a hitch last night. Maybe the temporary files were the problem. (It took the computer over a minute to delete them, so I’m inclined to think that the answer is “yes.”) I’ll have to make a note to clear those files regularly. **AndrewT,** I bought Spy Sweeper last week. I found and deleted several dozen cookies, and one or two bits of adware. Nothing that seemed especially malicious, thank God. I’m keeping the autoprotect feature off, however, because it slows down my system too much. (I’m starting to think about upgrading, actually.) Maybe I’m just lucky, **Optihut** , but I’ve never really had any bad experiences with Windows. Well, except for Windows NT. What a misbegotten POS _that_ was. My employers dumped it in favor of Windows 98! ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2004, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-internet-explorer-crashes/243180/8 "2004-05-03T13:08:39Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > Maybe the temporary files were the problem. (It took the computer over a minute to delete them, so I’m inclined to think that the answer is “yes.”) I would agree, that is usually a sign of an overstuffed internet cache. You might want to run Disk Clean (Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools/Disk Clean) as well, it cleans the internet caches, Windows temp files, recycle bin and a number of other folders where disposable files tend to collect. Also try the [Internet Cache Overflow tool](http://www.pcpitstop.com/pcpitstop/AutoFix.asp?file=IntIEOvr.js) from [www.pcpitstop.com](http://www.pcpitstop.com), if your caches were really full, you may need this as well. ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2004, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-internet-explorer-crashes/243180/9 "2004-05-03T13:31:57Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > Maybe the temporary files were the problem… I’ll have to make a note to clear those files regularly. There is a setting in IE to have them deleted automatically: Tools, Internet Options, the Advanced tab, scroll down to the last section, check “Empty Temporary Internet Files folder when browser is closed.” However, I’ve discovered that IE tends to “forget” that setting, so I end up having to empty the folder, then uncheck/apply/check/apply that setting to get it working again. I have yet to figure out the circumstances in which it forgets that setting - very annoying.