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I find Internet Eplorer running in background - Why?? it slows up FireFox and usually hangs up the PC - Shut it down and it starts again

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Using FireFox exclusively While using FireFox, I find it starting to hesitate and even locks up the screen and mouse. Using Ctrl-Alt-Del it finally allows me to open the Task Manager which breaks up the lock up. While in Task Manager I notice 3-4 instances of Internet Explorer open which I do not use.... I shut them down and the PC starts working normally.. After several minutes it starts being sluggish again.. I check Task Manager and find IE open again - again I shut it down This goes on and on Why is IE opening - I do not use IE nor do I want to use IE?? Any thoughts????

Using FireFox exclusively While using FireFox, I find it starting to hesitate and even locks up the screen and mouse. Using Ctrl-Alt-Del it finally allows me to open the Task Manager which breaks up the lock up. While in Task Manager I notice 3-4 instances of Internet Explorer open which I do not use.... I shut them down and the PC starts working normally.. After several minutes it starts being sluggish again.. I check Task Manager and find IE open again - again I shut it down This goes on and on Why is IE opening - I do not use IE nor do I want to use IE?? Any thoughts????

All Replies (2)

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Separate Issue; Your System Details shows;

Installed Plug-ins

Adobe PDF Plug-In For Firefox and Netscape 15.9.20069 Adobe PDF Plug-In For Firefox and Netscape 11.0.13

Shockwave Flash 20.0 r0 Shockwave Flash 13.0 r0
Having more than one version of a program may cause issues. You must remove the older programs. Then get the current full installer.

Flash: Grab the uninstaller from here: Uninstall Flash Player | Windows Uninstall Flash Player | Mac

Then reinstall the latest version.

Flash Player Version 20.0.0.267
https://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer/distribution3.html
Note: Windows users should download the ‘’’active_x’’’ for “Internet Explorer,” and the ‘’’plugin’’’ for “Plugin-based browsers” (like Firefox).

Note: Windows 8 and Windows 10 have built in flash players and Adobe will cause a conflict.

Adobe still offers Flash 18.0.0.268 as its extended support release further down

Adobe PDF Plug-In For Firefox and Netscape: Adobe Reader Version 2015.009.20069 Note: McAfee Security is offered in the download.

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Is Firefox the default browser? Do you have any add-ons that call IE?

Open Windows Internet Explorer. Have it declared as the default browser. But turn off the option to check this when the browser opens (If you want).

Now do the same thing using Firefox.


You may have ad / mal-ware. Further information can be found in the Troubleshoot Firefox issues caused by malware article.

Run most or all of the listed malware scanners. Each works differently. If one program misses something, another may pick it up.