Recently, when I bring up the Windows Task Manager dialogue box, under the 'Processes' tab, I see several instances of iexplore.exe running even if there is only one internet window open. They appear to be utilizing the appropriate memory consumption and don't affect system performance at all, with the exception of course, of using available system memory. Even if I close the open IE window, several instance will still remain, and I am able to end each process one at a time. Any suggestions of what may be causing this? WinXP, CA AV and Anti Spyware, Win Firewall, and I am behind a Linksys Wired Router. Never any porno. TIA for your help.
I believe this is new with either IE7 or IE8 (perhaps inspired by Chrome). What version of IE are you using? My machine, IE8 on WinXP - C:\>tasklist Image Name PID ========================= ====== .. . iexplore.exe 1184 Console iexplore.exe 432 Console iexplore.exe 3120 Console iexplore.exe 508 Console .. . C:\>taskkill /f /pid 508 SUCCESS: The process with PID 508 has been terminated. C:\>taskkill /f /pid 3120 SUCCESS: The process with PID 3120 has been terminated. .. .
Thanks, I did that, and they just terminate as normal. It's almost as if there are phantom IE windows open and I cannot see them. My biggest fear is some sort of back door logger, but AV shows no infractions. Weird.