One IE Window at a Time

September 21, 2005 9:25 AM

Suddenly every time I open a new Internet Explorer (6.02) window, it shuts down all the other IE windows that are currently open. This stinks, and is something that only began about 3 or 4 days ago. It's so bad that when I select 'Open in New Window,' that also closes down the original window. What's going on and how can I fix this?
posted by NYCnosh to Computers & Internet (10 answers total)

I honestly am not being snarky or zealous, but attempting to be helpful: do you really need to use IE?
posted by freebird at 9:58 AM on September 21, 2005

First thing I'd point a finger at is on IE add-on. To test this theory,

1. go to Tools>Internet Options>Programs and click the Manage Add-ons button.
2. Change the Show menu selection to "Add-ons currently loaded in Internet Explorer"
3. Look at the items listed and disable them one at a time until you find the culprit.

Yahoo companion add-ons can cause this issue, so I'd start there if you have any loaded.
posted by pmbuko at 10:01 AM on September 21, 2005

I agree with freebird. Don't bother fixing it. Download Opera for free.
posted by TurkishGolds at 10:03 AM on September 21, 2005

NYCnosh might need it for web developing, to check how a page looks for most users, or might simply prefer it.

At the risk of asking the obvious: have you run AdAware and/or Spybot Search & Destroy to make sure you're free of various trojans and browser hijackers?
posted by Tuwa at 10:03 AM on September 21, 2005

...is an IE add-on...
posted by pmbuko at 10:03 AM on September 21, 2005

One of the most irritating things about IE is that you can't reinstall it. IE was behaving strangely on my machine, and there was really nothing I could do about it.

I'd say, switch to firefox or opera.
posted by delmoi at 10:51 AM on September 21, 2005

See if you have any system restore points from 4 days ago. That usually does the trick.
posted by gfrobe at 10:58 AM on September 21, 2005

Try using HiJack this to look for trojan IE addons.
posted by shepd at 12:01 PM on September 21, 2005

Response by poster: Nasty little Yahoo add-on that didn't show up anywhere (in any IE menu) was responsible. I ended up having to change an item in the registry to get the damned thing out.

Oh, and I use IE because I prefer it to Opera and Firefox. Plus it's useful for web design, as Tuwa commented.

Thanks everyone!
posted by NYCnosh at 4:21 PM on September 21, 2005

NYCnosh, do you recall the registry entry that you had to delete? It'd be nice to record it here, lest someone else have the same problem and need to solve it.

(And seriously, people, is it that hard to resist the urge to not answer the question and recommend a browser switch? Hopefully, everyone else is happily flagging the comments as noise, too...)
posted by delfuego at 6:05 PM on September 21, 2005