IE8 Hyperlink problem

[ChrisG61]

I believe that I have the problem descirbed here. With multiple tabs open in IE8 and I try to connect to a new url in a new tab, IE8 stays in the 'connecting' state forever - spinning blue circle and Connecting on the tab, and at the bootom of the window either a magnifying glass or an IP address. The 'green thermometer bar' (?) at the bottom of the window most often slowly increments, then I get a 'connection error' message (can't remember exactly what it says) and that's it.
This seems to most often happen when I click on a link in e.g. an email in Outlook. I've also discovered that 'sometimes' if I copy and paste the URL into an existing tab earlier in the tabeset, everything works OK.
I've tried the regsvr32 suggestions earlier in this thread, with the result that all dll's are accepted except mshtml - where I get 'DllRegisterServer entry point was not found'. I've removed/reinstalled IE8 twice, but still have the problem. Now being out of my depth, I need help. btw1 - I've done a search of mshtml on my system, and there are 16 instances -all in C:\WINDOWS root folder, with dates up to and including today, when I did my last IE8 reinstall.
I would appreciate any help. btw2 - the problem has never occurred on IE7.

[Geekgirl]

I moved your thread as we do not like addressing 2 members in the same thread because no system is exactly alike and giving instructions for one may not work for the other...with that said, I want you to Run the System File Checker

Go to the Run box on the Start Menu and type in:

sfc /scannow ( sfc if not reconized) (Note that there is a space between sfc and /scannow)

This command will immediately initiate the Windows File Protection service to scan all protected files and verify their integrity, replacing any files with which it finds a problem.


In all likelihood you will be prompted to insert the Windows XP CD.

[ChrisG61]

Hi, thanks for the fast response. I've run sfc /scannow. Mounted the XP CD (which was shipped as a backup with my Dell computer a couple of years ago) when it was called for. The scan ran for something like 45m - I didn't see it actually see it complete - there was no indication of either error or success when I came back to the computer. I've just rebooted after the scan - got offered SP3 update, and declined it - in case that confused any diagnosis.

[ChrisG61]

Further info which may be of use to you. Problem seems to happen after multiple tabs are open for some time - 30m or so. When it occurs, triggered by trying to link from Outlook or even a shortcut on the desktop, a new tab will always open, but the connection to the page will not complete. Sometimes the status bar (?) at the bottom of the window is totally blank, sometimes a magnifying glass in the lower LH corner, sometimes mag glass + IP address, sometimes mag glass + IP address + moving green thermometer in the centre of the status bar, sometimes a full URL with a moving green thermo. While this is happening, there will not always be a rotating blue circle in the new tab, sometimes it's just a IE icon.

[Geekgirl]

FIRST remove IE8 (this is important) , then install SP3 and additional updates.

[ChrisG61]

Hi again, thanks for the 22AUG advice. I've done as you suggested - removed IE8, accessed and installed SP3 through Microsoft Update, installed additional updates, and re-downloaded and installed IE8. Unfortunately the problem is still there, but slightly different. Now when the failure occurs I've only seen the mag glass and the green progress bar. I have noticed that if I start IE8, open my usual number of tabs (14), and then try to reproduce the problem with a link from an Outlook message, the problem doesn't happen. As I mentioned earlier, if I continue to use the computer for 30 mins or so, and try again, the problem will probably (not certainly) happen. If I then start to close tabs until I'm down to one or two and then try the same link from Outlook, a new tab is opened and the linked-to site is available. However if I immediately try to access another link from the same Outlook email (it has multiple links) the hang occurs. I continue to appreciate your help - I'd like to stick with IE8.

[Geekgirl]

What are your computer specifications? Mainly how much RAM is installed? 14 tabs...wow you like to multi-task eh
Have you tried opening new windows instead of tabs to see if this persisted?

[ChrisG61]

Hi again. My computer is a Dell Inspiron 6400, Intel Core 2 T5600 (1.83 GHz) with 2Gb of Ram. Single partition 120Gb HD, with 30Gb free. The 14 tabs are the entries in a single tabset, which I've used for a long time under IE7. Some tabs connect to streaming sites (weather radar, Yahoo stock price, newspapers etc.). I did some further investigation of the problem which I hope helps you. Immediately after a clean reboot, with no apps started, I have 1350 Mb free, with a commit charge of 644/3920. After starting IE8 with a single tab (www.abc.net.au), I have 1325 free, with a commit charge of 673/3930, and show two instances of iexplore, one using 77 Mb, the other 17Mb. If I touch nothing for a few hours I then have 1070 free, Commit = 810/3930, and still the same two instances of iexplore, using the same 77Mb/17Mb as before. If I then open the additional 13 IE8 tabs, I initially have free=830, Commit = 1090/3930, 2 instances of iexplore 280/19. Leaving this situation alone for 8 hours (overnight) the situation when I looked again this morning was: free=65, Commit=4030/4400, 16 instances of iexplore, ranging from a largest of 860Mb to the smallest of 7Mb (for a total of 1570Mb). There was also an App Error message from iexplore (0x093DD389 referred to 0). I took the offered option of sending a dump to microsoft, but it never completed. Closed IE8 down - had to do this in two stages, it closed about half the tabs then hung, so X again, and it cleared out completely - took about 5 minutes to close (not surprising given the memory situation.), but appears to have closed down cleanly (with no apps: free=1530, commit=750/4500. Restarted IE8 OK, and it all looks good again (single tab), and my test link from an Outlook email opens a new tabe and connects cleanly. Hope this helps.

[Geekgirl]

Disable all the IE8 add-ons to see if that would help.
On IE8, I clicked on "Tools", then clicked on "Manage Add-ons".
The first tab that displays is the "Toolbars and Extensions" tab. Click once on the first item in the list to highlight it, then hold the shift key and click on the last item in the list so that the full list is highlighted.
Right-click over the highlighted area and select "Disable All".
EACH item should show "Disabled" as it's status. If anything is still enabled, simply right-click on that item and select "Disable".
Once everything is set to "disabled", close IE8 and reboot the system.
Open IE8, return to "Tools", selected "Manage Add-ons", and verify that everything is still set to "disabled".
Open IE8 and begin opening numerous tabs like normal.
Let me know the outcome.