iexplore.exe process hangs after IE8 upgrade

[BOB IROC]

I am working on a customers computer and after she upgraded to IE8 from windows update it seems that IE acts erratically and when it is closed/exited the computer seems to stall and there are two processes of iexplore.exe in task manager. When those are forced to end the computer works better but not until a reboot does it work normally (Until Internet Explorer is launched again anyway)

I have scanned the computer for Malware and when I uninstall IE8 bringing the computer back to IE7 it seems fine. I did that and removed all the toolbars and IE plug-ins and tried to reinstall IE8 but after IE8 was installed the problem re-appeared. I am at my wits end because I recently reformatted this computer a couple months ago because the customer had multiple infections of viruses and spyware. Other than the IE8 issue the computer seems to work fine. Any advice?

[BOB IROC]

I think I may have solved it. I decided to run IE with no add-ons and disable add ons one by one and found something called Media Share Toolbar (not sure what that is) but it had a bearshare reference in the description. I disabled that and IE closed and the iexplore.exe process did not seem to hang. I removed mediashare from add/remove programs and the add on is no longer in the list. It is probably some crapware that came with the eMachine on the restore disc. I will do a bit more testing to verify and post if the problem returns.

[slgrieb]

Bob, Media Share Toolbar is a product of ReelNewMedia.com which is website specializing in sleazy videos, "free" TV, etc. The only place I've seen the toolbar available for download outside the home page have been various "crackz" and "warez" sites and Softpedia (which I think is a sleazy POS site, too). Softpedia claims the toolbar only collects "anonymous usage data".

So, it's just one more testament to your client's poor judgment, not a part of eMachines restore process.

[BOB IROC]

Yeah its hard to say if that was part of the eMachine restore or if it was downloaded after. All I know is that IE8 didn't seem to like it too much because once it was uninstalled IE8 worked fine.