Here is some other tool you have to try: Hijackthis It helped me to get rid of things that adaware did not find. Not only it lists all startup items, it also list all BHO's (Browser Helper Objects) and DPF (Downloaded Program Files). Those BHO's and DPF are loaded whenever IExplorer is active. Hijackers often use BHO's for tracking online behaviour, displaying popups, etc. Same for the DPF. When I removed all crap Iexplorer also opened much faster and consumed less RAM.