Desktop Freezes When Closing IE6 SP1

[ta1946]

This has been an on going problem, first the basics:

OS: Windows ME
Ram: 384MB
Browser: Internet Explorer 6 SP1 Version: 6.0.2800.1106
Java: J2SE Runtime Enviroment 5.0 Update 13
Shockwave Version: 10.1.4r21
Flash Player Version: 9.0.124.0

The problem exists when closing certain websites. After closing certain websites and IE6 and return to the desktop, the desktop freezes. After a minute or more, the desktop becomes operable again and returns to normal. During the freeze time, if I click on a desktop icon, the hour glass appears and nothing happens till whatever is closing is done closing, or, whatever log is being written is done being written. This only happens when closing certain websites. I have reinstalled the OS, have reinstalled IE6 from a disk. Switched a long time ago from Microsoft's Java Virtual Machine to Java Runtime Enviroment.
Someone told me this is an inherent problem with IE6 and older OS's like Windows 98SE/ME because of memory and resources issues with these older 64 KB resource limits. What you get is "resource drain" which causes problems similar to what I am experiencing. Read here: System Resources FAQ

The problem is, I am not so sure that is my problem, because the problem exists ONLY on certain websites.

Anyone have any input?

[S0ULphIRE]

If your system is being tied up only by certain sites, see if you can spot anything similar on those sites. Look for stuff like flashplayer videos, huge long complicated scripts etc.

[Mak213]

Hello,

The issues can be far and wide when it comes to your system. Windows ME is not supported and has not been updated. So your using IE6 that hasnt been patched in over a year could be why. You might not have a critical update that is needed to run the browser efficently on your OS. I would wager to guess that would be the issue cause those websites in question could be heavily coded for IE7 or Firefox and not work well in IE6.

I would update Java, Flash Player and your shockwave. See if that helps.

Cheers,
Mak

[ta1946]

Originally Posted by Mak213

Hello,

The issues can be far and wide when it comes to your system. Windows ME is not supported and has not been updated. So your using IE6 that hasnt been patched in over a year could be why. You might not have a critical update that is needed to run the browser efficently on your OS. I would wager to guess that would be the issue cause those websites in question could be heavily coded for IE7 or Firefox and not work well in IE6.

I would update Java, Flash Player and your shockwave. See if that helps.

Cheers,
Mak

Thank you for your response. As far as I know all the programs you mentioned are updated. The newer versions of Java and Flashplayer are not supported using Windows ME. Believe I did download the latest version of Java and it caused mayhem on my system. You have to use the last Java version designed to work with Windows 9x systems.
I have had this problem even when Windows ME WAS supported and have all the critical updates up to the time when MS discontinued their support for the OS. In other words I have been having this problem for a long, long time. This isn't anything that just popped up.

What is a mystery is my problem only exists when closing out certain websites.

[Mak213]

Hello,

Well it was a well known fact that Windows ME was by far the worst OS by Microsoft. So i am not surprised that it has been going on for so long. My best suggestion. Upgrade to XP while you still can. You have enough RAM to run it. but it might be a tad slow.

Cheers,
Mak