One question. When you are getting these issues are you using IE8 in compatability mode or is it running straigt as IE8?

I presume it is running straight, don't get the compatibility mode icon up

Try disabling add-ons one by one.

I was experiencing lots of problems with a customer's computer with Explorer and it turned out that the McAfee plug-in was causing IE8 to crash.

OK I will check that out . thanks

I would also manually put in a website that you are having problems into compatibility mode just to try it out. I have found out that Java/Flash sites that were coded for ie7 tend to throw errors similar to what you are describing

How would coding for a processor affecting performance of a browser? Especially when Java and Flash are pretty much platform independent?

cheers ...

Qhn, I think you miss understood me. Sites can have code designs (layouts/ASP/.Net) structures that they use to enhance the site and gear it towards a particular browser. Some companies that use group policies to lock their people into say interenet explorer may ask their coders to say, force a .net structure and lock in system called routines. Trying to view the site from anything else except IE will cause certain controls not to display or self authentication not to occur.

If you have ever used Outlook Web Access (OWA) you will find that it use to display differently in Firefox/Safari than when you used Internet Explorer. Java for example will through a Data Exception Protection error (DEP) if the wrong version is being used and a system call is being made. Microsoft Virtual Java Machine Support is not the same thing as Java SE version 14 or 16. If you are say using Java SE 6 without any of the release updates you would be running a java code that doesn't have the latest call packages or support for the garbage collection routines.

Flash uses addon calls to identify itself to Microsoft and allow controls such as keyboard interactions and on screen controls to be made. If this is set for a specific version use calls made that may be interpretted differently from compatability view and strait ie8

http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/InternetExplorer/thread/68259a6d-e5b2-46c4-86e2-080412379e6a

DEP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/875352

Thanks for the expanded explanation Nemesis. I need time to absorb all this, but I still do not see how the incompatibility would cause the crashes that Brindley had (better now) experienced.

cheers ...

Well if the addon was malfunctioning or it was making a call to access memory or a system reservered call DEP would kick in. Removing the addons may fix it, however if they are corrupt or making the wrong calls then it would incorrectly trigger the DEP.