Multiple iexplore.exe processing running in Windows 7

Question

Every few days, Internet Explorer opens in an odd place on my screen. The culprit is always the same: I have multiple iexplore.exe processes running (usually 4), but no Internet Explorer window is visible.

I think that with the IE8 security model in Windows 7, there is an iexplore.exe process that manages the others somehow, so at most, I should see two iexplore.exe processes when Internet Explorer is open.

Does anyone have any ideas as to why iexplore.exe is either not shutting down correctly, or lauching more processes in the background?

Answer 1

IE8 has a feature where each tab is running in its own process, so if one page makes it crash, the complete browser doesn't go away. It's called "Lousely Coupled IE" (LCIE) and you can read more about it here.

Basically you have 1 iexplore.exe for the UI and 1 iexplore.exe for each tab.

Answer 2

It could be related to this question where malware was launching the processes. Try running a scan with MBAM, Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware, and see if something turns up.