Problems with Internet Explorer 9 on Windows 7

Darlene has problems with Internet Explorer 9 on Windows 7
I am using Windows 7, 64 bit, Home edition on a Toshiba laptop that will be one year old tomorrow. I have updated to IE 9 and it is driving me nuts! Every time I close a tab, I get an error message opening in the center of my screen telling me that IE has stopped working and offering to either go online and try to solve the problem, or just restart the program. It irks me to death because IE is still working–there is another tab open and I just clicked the red x to close that window. If I choose FILE and EXIT to close the entire program, it will sometimes do it, and other times, still give me the error message telling me that it has stopped working. I have tried Googling the weird behavior, but have not had any luck with any ideas of what to do to stop this. Has anyone else reported this problem? I am going to be 78 next week, but this program is aging me faster than an old cheese! HELP! (please……)

Our answer
It seems that some computers run IE9 without a hitch (EB) and others think it runs like a three-legged turtle (TC). For some it’s a constant source of annoyances and others claim it works great. I (TC) personally feel that it doesn’t work so hot for the majority — otherwise Microsoft’s share of the browser market wouldn’t continue to decline. In 2004, 94% used Internet Explorer, as of today, 48% use Internet Explorer. But that doesn’t solve your problem does it? But it solved mine – I’ve got to vent.

So let’s try to solve your problem.

You can let Microsoft try to help you by visiting this page:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/internet-explorer/help/ie-9

Or you can see what kinds of problems other users are having and what solutions they’ve come up with for those problems by visiting the IE9 forum:
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/ie/forum

You could also try Microsoft’s “Fix It” site:
http://support.microsoft.com/fixit/

Or you could try to contact a Microsoft support person by visiting this page:
https://support.microsoft.com/oas/default.aspx?gprid=807&st=1

Your problems are difficult problems to resolve simply because IE9 seems to run so differently on different computers. As I said earlier, EB says IE9 “works great” on her Windows 7 computer – and it runs like a load of smelly garbage on my Windows 7 computer. Both of us maintain our computers reasonably well, so why IE9 seems to be flaky is something that’s beyond my vast (kidding) knowledge. It may well be an add-on that you’ve installed that is causing your problems. It may well be the same for me.

My solution was simple – I just use Google Chrome as my default browser and my IE9 troubles are over. Firefox is another alternative you could try. And I’ve recently been very impressed with the newest version of Apple Safari. In fact, the more I use Safari the more I like it. But I understand that some folks get comfortable with a program and they don’t want to have to learn a new program. But with browsers, it’s not nearly as big of a learning curve as it is with, let’s say, learning a new word processing program. You can pretty much count on the fact that all browsers work in similar fashion: You types in yer Web address and you goes to yer page….

There are fewer and fewer sites these days which are IE-only. But even those old-fashioned folks who still believe IE is the only game in town and build their sites for IE might be surprised to learn that there are add-ons for both Chrome and Firefox which allows these browsers to emulate Internet Explorer – so theoretically there are no sites which won’t work in Chrome and/or Firefox. I do banking online and payments online – and also shop online (when/if I have any money) and I’ve never had any problems with banking, online bill payment, or shopping online using Chrome or Firefox. I’ve not been using Safari that long but so far, I’ve not encountered any sites that didn’t work right with it either.

So take a look at some of the links we’ve given you. If none of them have any solutions for you, try disabling some of your add-ons (if any). If all else fails, why not try a different browser.