Windows 10 Internet Explorer 11 Will Not Open

[Nivrip]

IE 11 will not open. I’m on Windows 10 and have been trouble free since upgrading from Windows 7 some months ago.

I had been using IE 11 without any problems and then had about an hour and a half break. I returned to the PC to find that the programme (IE11)would not open at all.

First, I rebooted, no change. Then I tried resetting IE to its default state, no change again. However, the instructions for doing this state “click Close and then OK” but on clicking “Close” the whole thing disappears and there is no option to click “OK”. Is this relevant?

Then I went to System Restore. Something must have happened towards the end of last session I had because I found a System Restore point just before I finished the session. Anyhow, I tried three different System Restore points, including that last one, but all of them failed to restore the system due to error 0X80070005. So, no further forward.

Then I tried Troubleshooting in the Control Panel but again no joy.

I do have Microsoft Edge which works perfectly well and, as far as I know, everything else on my PC is working too.

Where can I go from here? All comments gratefully received.

 

[Neemobeer]

This is usually a sign a Windows corruption. If you look in event viewer you will probably see Application crashes for IE under the Application log. You can try and run some repair commands from an elevated command prompt

• DISM /Online /CleanupImage /RestoreHealth
• sfc /scannow

If either find and stats repairing files, once it completes reboot and run the command again, rinse and repeat until it no longer repairs anything or if it tells you it can't repair something.

 

[BIGBEARJEDI]

Neem's right about Windows corruption--and that corruption can also be caused by virus/malware attack! Have you used your built-in AV to scan for and remove viruses? If not, you should do this next if neem's suggestions don't get your IE11 working again. After that, you should also scan for and remove spyware viruses, which over 80% of failed computers have that I see in my repair shop. Download the free MALWAREBYTES from malwarebytes.org and scan/remove all spyware viruses found. Retest your IE11. If fixed, you had 1 or more viruses and or spyware viruses that scrambled your IE11, one of the most commonly attacked components of Windows10. And you're all set to go!

If that fails to fix the problem, you should know that many viruses when removed, have code in them that purposely erases windows systems files or corrupts them or both! Therefore, the easiest way to correct this problem is to attempt to use the built-in Windows utility, SYSTEM RESTORE and UNDO any or all of these changes made by the virus upon forced removal. This will restore your IE11 to working order about 60% of the time.

The Stop error you have is quite common in W10; there are several variants of this; but usually it means your W10 is gone! And the only way to fix it is to repair Windows using software tools such as in-place upgrade, boot repair, or windows reinstallation using the Microsoft MCT tool or factory Recovery Discs for W10 which you most likely don't have on that computer since you upgraded it from W7.

If Restore fails to fix the problem, you might have coincidental hardware failure; on older computers running Win7 which you upgraded to W10 from; this happens all the time, as Win7 computers are now 7 years old going on 8 years old in 2017. Desktop hard drives are only designed to last for 3 years--laptop hard drives are only designed for 2 years! If you are the original owner of your computer and you've never replaced the hard drive in that computer yourself or paid someone to replace it for you, there's a 95% chance it's failing or failed completely! If this is the case, continuing to apply software solutions to a computer with a broken hardware component is a complete waste of time. **NO SOFTWARE ON THE PLANET CAN REPAIR BROKEN HARDWARE!!!***

If you get to this point in this Post, you need to consider testing your hardware yourself (DIY), or paying a local licensed Computer Pro to do this for you. If you decide to do this yourself, I've written an excellent Troubleshooting Guide here that will take you through hardware testing of your computer or laptop step-by-step, and provide detailed software repairs that will produce a fix 90% of the time if you are willing to spend the time and effort to follow the Guide's instructions. This can take 2-3 days to 1 week or more however, so if you are not the patient type, you may wish to pay a professional to do this for you. If you don't have the patience or the money to do so, try using my Guide.

Here's the link to my Troubleshooting Guide: Windows 10 - Unclickable Task Bar

And remember if you get stuck along the way, feel free to post back any questions you have. There are no stupid questions in computer repair. And we are here 24x7x365--so if I don't get back to you right away, Neem or one of the other volunteers will surely do so.

Best of luck,
<<<BIGBEARJEDI>>>

 

[Nivrip]

Neem's right about Windows corruption--and that corruption can also be caused by virus/malware attack! Have you used your built-in AV to scan for and remove viruses? If not, you should do this next if neem's suggestions don't get your IE11 working again. After that, you should also scan for and remove spyware viruses, which over 80% of failed computers have that I see in my repair shop. Download the free MALWAREBYTES from malwarebytes.org and scan/remove all spyware viruses found. Retest your IE11. If fixed, you had 1 or more viruses and or spyware viruses that scrambled your IE11, one of the most commonly attacked components of Windows10. And you're all set to go!

If that fails to fix the problem, you should know that many viruses when removed, have code in them that purposely erases windows systems files or corrupts them or both! Therefore, the easiest way to correct this problem is to attempt to use the built-in Windows utility, SYSTEM RESTORE and UNDO any or all of these changes made by the virus upon forced removal. This will restore your IE11 to working order about 60% of the time.

The Stop error you have is quite common in W10; there are several variants of this; but usually it means your W10 is gone! And the only way to fix it is to repair Windows using software tools such as in-place upgrade, boot repair, or windows reinstallation using the Microsoft MCT tool or factory Recovery Discs for W10 which you most likely don't have on that computer since you upgraded it from W7.

If Restore fails to fix the problem, you might have coincidental hardware failure; on older computers running Win7 which you upgraded to W10 from; this happens all the time, as Win7 computers are now 7 years old going on 8 years old in 2017. Desktop hard drives are only designed to last for 3 years--laptop hard drives are only designed for 2 years! If you are the original owner of your computer and you've never replaced the hard drive in that computer yourself or paid someone to replace it for you, there's a 95% chance it's failing or failed completely! If this is the case, continuing to apply software solutions to a computer with a broken hardware component is a complete waste of time. **NO SOFTWARE ON THE PLANET CAN REPAIR BROKEN HARDWARE!!!***

If you get to this point in this Post, you need to consider testing your hardware yourself (DIY), or paying a local licensed Computer Pro to do this for you. If you decide to do this yourself, I've written an excellent Troubleshooting Guide here that will take you through hardware testing of your computer or laptop step-by-step, and provide detailed software repairs that will produce a fix 90% of the time if you are willing to spend the time and effort to follow the Guide's instructions. This can take 2-3 days to 1 week or more however, so if you are not the patient type, you may wish to pay a professional to do this for you. If you don't have the patience or the money to do so, try using my Guide.

Here's the link to my Troubleshooting Guide: Windows 10 - Unclickable Task Bar

And remember if you get stuck along the way, feel free to post back any questions you have. There are no stupid questions in computer repair. And we are here 24x7x365--so if I don't get back to you right away, Neem or one of the other volunteers will surely do so.

Best of luck,
<<<BIGBEARJEDI>>>

Thanks for the replies, guys.


The good news is that my problem has been resolved. It was suggested to me that I switch off Malwarebytes Anti-Exploit Free. When I did this everything returned to normal. This is very strange as that program has been on my PC for well over six months ! There may have been a recent update and I suspect that it was this that caused the problem.


Seems that this is a well known problem as, I'm told, it appears on the Malwarebytes Forums.


Let's hope this is some help to others in the future.