IE-related errors... but I'm not using IE...?!

My brand new AA1 (150 6-cell, 3304 BIOS) has a strange problem from the factory XP SP3 install. Something seems to be causing IE to try to load on regular occasion, but it's doing it in such a way that IE is visibly crashing and creating a few other annoyances.

This has the following repercussions:

- Vague error messages frequently popping up on screen at seemingly arbitrary times complaining about a memory read error (no mention of iexplore.exe)
- iexplore.exe showing up as a hung process in the Task Manager process viewer during (but *only* during) these crashes-- not appearing in TM otherwise at all
- Firefox 3 complaining on every single restart that it is no longer the system's default browser

I haven't yet figured out what is calling IE in the first place, although I'm guessing it's either an Acer utility or perhaps the included version of Acroreader. Has anyone else had this issue and tracked it down?

 

Hello lossfizzle.

I'm affraid the only suggestion I can make is for you to desinstall Acrobat Reader and see if it solves the issue.
If it does you might want to install FoxIt Reader in its place, a much better program to use IMHO.

 

You may want to scan for spyware or viruses. iexplore should not be loading in the background.

In terms of the "memory not read' error, I've seen that come from bad drivers. Funny as it sounds, I have seen it more from bad drivers/apps than I have from actual bad "memory".

Did you set Firefox as the default browser in the option to Set Default Programs (Control Panel -> Add/Remove Programs -> Set Program Access and Defaults)?

 

I guess I should've been more clear; Firefox only complains about not being the default browser if it is restarted *after* one of the crashes has occurred. That was the first clue to me that the crashes were IE-related, the Task Manager evidence being the second.

I'm not normally someone who gets spyware apps and so far my AA1 install base choices have been both very limited and very conservative. In fact, my XP install is so close to factory that I find it hard to believe that no one else with one of these new 6-cells has had the same issue. Right now I'm thinking that it probably is in fact related to the pre-installed Acroread 9, so I'll look into that.