I know there are lots of problems like this but this one just started about a month ago for no obvious reason. When I manually try to open a link in a new tab, or click a link that opens a new tab, the tab opens but nothing displays in the tab. On rare occassions it will work but 99% of the time it just says "Connecting". I can drag the link over to the new tab and it will then display. It is as if it looses track of what to open. Everything used to work fine, even with IE9 beta. I uninstalled the IE9 beta and the problem continues to happen with IE8. The problem does not happen with IE 64-bit version, only the 32-bit IE. I have tried the usual things such as running with no add-ons, re-registering the IE8 components, etc., but none of those fixed the problem. I have run out of ideas. I am running Win7 64-bit.

As mysteriously as it started, the problem went away today. The only system change I made was to install a new version of AVG Administrator Console (part of AVG Business Edition). This removed the old version and then installed the new version. The old version was installed on 10/1 which would be about when the problem started. It is hard to believe this piece of software would have anything to do with IE but who knows. All is well that ends well?

Please temporary disable antivirus and firewall, then check the result. If the issue persists, I suggest you reset IE settings. 1. Click Start, please type “inetcpl.cpl” (without quotation marks) in the Start Search bar and press Enter to open the Internet options window. 2. Switch to the Advanced tab. 3. Click the "Reset Internet Explorer Settings" button. 4. Click Reset to confirm the operation. 5. Click Close when the resetting process has finished. 6. Uncheck the "Enable third-party browser extensions" option in the Settings box. 7. Click Apply, click OK. If the issue still occurs, I suggest you try No Add-ons Mode. Click the Start Button, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, and then click Internet Explorer (No Add-ons). If the issue does not reoccur, it may be caused by an IE Add-on. In that case, let’s continue to perform the following steps to narrow down the cause. Check Internet Explorer Add-Ons ========================= 1. Click Tools, and then click Internet Options. 2. Click the "Programs" tab, and then click Manage Add-ons. 3. Select an add-on in the Name list, and then click Disable. 4. Restart IE with Add-ons and check the issue again. If the issue is resolved, the disabled Add-on was the cause of the issue. If the issue reoccurs, continue to disable the next Add-on using the same method. By doing so, we could determine which Add-on contributed to the issue.Please remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

As stated in my followup post, the problem went away on its own. However, up to that point I had tried everything you had suggested with the exception of temporarily disabling anti-virus. I am convinced the problem was not related to add-on's since it continued after resetting IE settings and running with No Add-on mode. The 64-bit IE never had a problem even with add-on's running but to be fair, I have one add-on which is only available in a 32-bit version. But given that the No Add-on mode had the problem, that pretty much eliminates that particular add-on. At this point I won't check the suggestion as answered or not answered. Thanks for the answer though.