Why does Outlook launch IE in the background?

Anonymous
2017-05-09T14:01:44+00:00

Hello,

We are using Office 365 ProPlus on Windows 10 Pro.  Opening Outlook (16.0.7927.1020) will launch two background processes of IE (iexplore.exe).  Why does Outlook open IE?  

This behavior does not happen in earlier versions of Office 365 ProPlus, such as 16.0.6001.1041.  It appears that an update for Office 365 ProPlus is causing Outlook to open IE in the background.

Thank you,

Evan

Outlook | Windows | Classic Outlook for Windows | For home

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  1. Anonymous
    2017-05-10T14:29:04+00:00

    We are using Exchange Online.  

    If Outlook is run as an administrator, iexplore.exe still opens in the background but does not crash.  Running Outlook as an administrator is not a solution, however.  Our users do not have local admin rights on their systems, so they cannot run Outlook as an administrator.  We cannot enter admin credentials every time that someone needs to open Outlook.

    I can see that iexplore.exe runs in the background by checking Task Manager.  I open Task Manager and verify that neither Outlook.exe nor iexplore.exe are running.  I open Outlook and watch Task Manager, and I see two instances of iexplore.exe start while Outlook is opening.  IE windows never appear in the GUI.  When Outlook closes, the two iexplore.exe processes close, too.

    We have seen Outlook launching iexplore.exe on several systems.  It probably happens on every system that has the latest Office updates.  The iexplore.exe processes are crashing on one system currently.

    Evan

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  2. Anonymous
    2017-05-10T22:24:34+00:00

    Hi Evan,

    Thank you for the detailed information.

    I have checked the background process with Outlook 1704 8067.2070, it do involve the iexplore.exe. Another version of Outlook 1701 7766 2076, 7766. 2084, no IE process.

    I will consult related teams about this behavior.

    Thanks,

    Alison

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  3. Anonymous
    2017-05-15T15:58:36+00:00

    I'm seeing the same results, 2 IE processes pop up, one 32 bit, one that doesn't label itself as 32bit.

    Right now, some crash, some launch normally, but all are launching 2 IE processes.

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  4. Anonymous
    2017-05-16T06:48:50+00:00

    Hi CAdair,

    I have sent the consult to related teams and will share the update when I get something useful. Furthermore, based on my test, if we end IE task manually or waiting for a few hours or later after starting the Outlook, these two processes will be killed automatically. If you have any issue related to these two processes, feel free to let me know.

    Best,

    Alison

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  5. Anonymous
    2017-05-23T10:07:28+00:00

    Hi All,

    Thanks for reporting this and currently our related team is investigating this similar issue with another customer. If any information from your side is needed, I will let you know and I will update any progress here once I get it. 

    On another hand, if you have more concern on this, you may try the following methods as a workaround:

    1. Roll back the older version for your Outlook.
    2. Have an admin permission on your machine. 

    Regards,

    Alan

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