I was getting very frustrated up until about a week ago. I am very good at this kind of thing, and to continue to have same kind of issue without coming to a resolution was really annoying me.

Yes, believe it or not, there is a point to this story. Last week I stumbled across an article about Browser Helper Objects (also known as a BHO). This is first and only time that I have heard this term, although I had been unknowingly using these little critters for years. A BHO is a piece of code which is installed in a special place known to Internet Explorer which adds additional features. Microsoft has kindly provided this function to allow third party companies to extend browser without needing to provide access to source code.

I'm absolutely sure that most of readers of this article use at least one BHO at least occasionally. Some examples include Alexa, Gator, Flyswat, GetRight, Gozilla, RealDownload and Yahoo Companion. There are many, many more which are often made available for free in return for a name and demographic information. I'll bet that you have at least one of these installed on your system right now. All of these applications are extremely useful, and all of them extend functionality of Internet Explorer. Each has been produced by a different company with different development, coding and testing standards.

Once I read article something clicked and I went through my add/remove programs control panel and deleted most useful BHO of them all - Gator. I love this application, but I had to see if this was problem.

Well, it's been a week and my system has remained 100% stable since that time. Not one application freeze. Not one Windows Explorer crash. Not one problem of any kind.

I learned something - well, I relearned something that I already knew. Be conservative on installs of new applications onto your computer. Nothing makes Windows more unstable than new installations. And once you're sure you've got a stable Windows system which does what you need, then by all means stop installing things. More than likely, it will remain stable - that is, until you find that perfect piece of software that you've just got to have.

When you do install something that modifies behavior of Internet Explorer, remember this article. Perhaps you've added a Browser Helper Object. I would recommend that you go ahead and install it, then watch your system carefully for a week before making any other changes. This is really only real way to be sure of where new problem came from.

--Frames often annoy many users. They're just kinda confusing. And when users get annoyed, you know what they do? Yep, that's right. They go somewhere else.

--They don't show up correctly in many browsers, thus shrinking your audience even further.

--Your users will have a tough time book-marking pages within your site (like order page f'rinstance. Ahem).

As you can see, there are more than a few things to think about here. The answer, if you're really stuck on using frames, is to create a splash page that allows your users to choose frames or no frames. Of course, this means more work--but in long run, giving your users this option is probably worth it.