IE8 running really slow

[VegasNath]

For some unknown reason, my IE8 has slowed to a crawl, pages taking ages to load / refresh etc. Any idea's what could cause this?

[VegasNath]

I have 'delete browsing history on exit' checked.

[HansV]

Do you have another browser installed, such as Firefox, Chrome or Opera? If so, does the same problem occur there, or only in Internet Explorer?

[VegasNath]

FF is much faster, IE used to be really fast but has been slowing down a lot over the last few weeks, getting worse & worse.... I'm OK using FF, but prefer IE8 out of habit.

[HansV]

Thanks - I asked because I wanted to know whether it was a problem with your internet connection or network settings. Apparently not.

Do you have a large HOSTS file (in C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc)?

[VegasNath]

C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts = 1kb

This site generally runs fine. BBC, Twitter to mention 2 are really slow.

[HansV]

Ok, so the HOSTS file isn't the cause either, and it's not all sites, so it's not a general IE8 performance problem. Hard to say what the cause could be...

You might try deleting all temporary files of various kinds, for example using CCleaner (Piriform - Download CCleaner, Defraggler, Recuva, Speccy - Millions of users worldwide!). Warning: unless you specify cookies to keep, all cookies will be deleted, so that you'd have to login to sites such as Eileen's Lounge again.

You might also try a different DNS server - for example Google Public DNS.

[JoeP]

Have you added or updated any addons (i.e. toolbars, flash, etc.). See Tools | Manage Addons for a list. You can try selectively disabling addons to see if you can identify a problem area.

Joe

[VegasNath]

Have you added or updated any addons (i.e. toolbars, flash, etc.). See Tools | Manage Addons for a list. You can try selectively disabling addons to see if you can identify a problem area.

Joe

No addons Joe, but thanks for the input.

[VegasNath]

Ok, so the HOSTS file isn't the cause either, and it's not all sites, so it's not a general IE8 performance problem. Hard to say what the cause could be...

You might try deleting all temporary files of various kinds, for example using CCleaner (Piriform - Download CCleaner, Defraggler, Recuva, Speccy - Millions of users worldwide!). Warning: unless you specify cookies to keep, all cookies will be deleted, so that you'd have to login to sites such as Eileen's Lounge again.

You might also try a different DNS server - for example Google Public DNS.

Hans, thanks. CCleaner seems to have sped things up a little, not sure if things are as quick as they should be though, time will tell, i'll report back if the problem persists.

Now, please remind me what I need to do to stop Eileens cookie being deleted?

[HansV]

Now, please remind me what I need to do to stop Eileens cookie being deleted?

In CCleaner?

Click Options, then Cookies. You'll see a list of cookies to delete on the left and a list of cookies to keep on the right. You can use the -> and <- buttons to move cookies between these two lists. Make sure that the eileenslounge.com cookie is in the list of cookies to keep on the right.

x433.png

[agibsonsw]

Have you added or updated any addons (i.e. toolbars, flash, etc.). See Tools | Manage Addons for a list. You can try selectively disabling addons to see if you can identify a problem area.

Joe

No addons Joe, but thanks for the input.

Just a suggestion, it might be worth running IE in 'safe' mode, without ActiveX controls or extensions which you may not be aware of, just to see if performance improves.

There should be an option under Start/ All Programs/ Accessories/ System Tools/ Internet Explorer (no Add ons). At least, there is in Vista.

If performance does improve then it might be an add-on or extension that's causing the problem. Andy.

[VegasNath]

Cheers Hans. How is this done in IE also?

[HansV]

If you set IE to delete cookies (among other things) on exit, you can specify that you want to preserve data for your Favorites. If you do that and if Eileen's Lounge is in your Favorites (it is, of course ), your Lounge cookie won't be deleted.

Delete_Browsing_History.png