Internet Explorer stops responding, stops working, or restarts

Introduction | Your environment | Symptoms | Method 2
Method 2 Scan your computer for malicious software such as viruses, spyware, and malware
2 Malicious software such as viruses, spyware, or malware might cause Internet Explorer to stop responding (hang, freeze, or lock up), to stop working, or to run slowly. Method 2 shows you how to scan your computer and how to remove any malicious software that the scan might find.
Benefits of this method
  • By removing any malicious software, you will improve the security and the stability of your computer.
Drawbacks of this method
  • Unfortunately, this method might not work. But if it does not work, we will give you instructions to guide you on to your next steps.
This method is rated:
  • Easy
  • Estimated time: 20 minutes to 3 hours or more. It all depends on your Internet connection speed, the type of scan that you select, and any malicious software that you might find.

You may find it easier to follow the steps if you print this article first.

To scan your computer for malicious software, follow these steps.
Step 1 Verify that you have up-to-date virus and spyware protection.

To do this, follow these steps:

  1. Click Start, and then click Run. The Run dialog box opens.
  2. Type wscui.cpl, and then press ENTER. Windows Security Center opens and displays the status of your malware or virus protection.


    3. Note You might have to first click Windows Firewall to view the status of your malware or virus protection.

  3. If there is a problem with your malware or virus protection, Windows Security Center might include recommendations. If this option is available, click Recommendations.


    4. Windows XP with an out-of-date antivirus program:


Note If Windows Security Center does not recognize your malware-protection programs or does not give you a way to update them, you must update the programs yourself. If you have no malware-protection programs or if you are not sure how to update them, don’t worry about it for now. Just continue on to Step 2.
Step 2 Scan your computer for malware.

How you scan your computer for malware depends on the malware-protection programs that you have. If you do not know how to scan your computer, an easy and free way to do this is to use the Windows Live OneCare safety scanner.

To use the Windows Live OneCare safety scanner, follow these steps:

  1. In Internet Explorer, visit the following Microsoft Web site:http://onecare.live.com/scan
  2. Click Full Service Scan.
    You might be notified that the Web site wants to run an add-on for the Windows Live OneCare Safety Scanner. To allow this, click the notification bar, and then click Run ActiveX Control to continue.



    Note The behavior that you will see on the Windows Live OneCare Web page might be a bit different from what we describe here, but basically this is what will happen. The Windows Live OneCare safety scanner is downloaded and installed on your computer the first time that you perform a scan. The scanner will inspect your computer. Then, it will give you results and recommendations when the scan is complete. As we said earlier, this might take a while, so be prepared for that.

    Note If you currently have no malware-protection programs, you can download a 90-day free trial of Windows Live OneCare. To do this, click Download free trial under Get continuous protection for your PC with Windows Live OneCare on the Windows Live OneCare Web page.
Verification Method 2 verification and next steps

After you have scanned your computer for any malware and have removed any malware that you found, check whether the Internet Explorer problem is resolved. If you know that this problem occurred by visiting a particular Web page or by following certain steps, try that now to see whether the Internet Explorer problem still occurs. If the problem occurred intermittently, you might have to visit different Web pages or use Internet Explorer for several days before you can determine whether the problem is resolved.

Important To check whether the problem has been resolved, you might have to browse away from the page that you are now viewing, or you might have to restart your computer. By browsing away from this page or by restarting your computer, the content that you are now viewing will no longer be displayed. So, before you continue, you might find it helpful to create a shortcut to this Web page on your desktop so that you can easily return to this page by double-clicking the shortcut. To create a shortcut to this Web page on your desktop, follow these steps:

  1. Right-click this page, and then click Create Shortcut.
  2. In the Internet Explorer dialog box, click Yes to create a shortcut on your desktop.

If this method worked

If the Internet Explorer problem is resolved, you are finished! The cause of the problem was either a missing update or malware, such as a virus or spyware. But before you leave this content, you might still want to do the following:

If this method did not work

If the Internet Explorer problem is not resolved, you have a decision to make. Would you mind losing all your Internet Explorer customizations? Or do you want to save as many of your customizations as possible?

  • I do not mind losing my customizations

    If you do not mind losing your customizations, you can reset your Internet Explorer settings. This method is very fast, and there is a good chance that it will resolve your problem. However, this method will restore Internet Explorer to the state it was in when it was first installed. This means that you might lose customizations for Web sites, that your home page and search provider might be reset, and that toolbars or other add-ons that you might have installed will be disabled. Some examples of add-ons that might be disabled include the Windows Live toolbar, the Google toolbar, RoboForm, or ieSpell. You might also lose cookies that some Web sites use to customize your browsing experience.
  • I want to save as many of my customizations as possible

    If your Internet Explorer customizations are important to you and you want to try to save as many of them as possible, you can test Internet Explorer settings one at a time to see which one might be causing the problem. This process will take more time, and success is not certain. But if your customizations are important to you, this process might be worth a try.

Last Review : September 7, 2011