IE7 using 1GB+ mem, when not using browser, mem leak ?

IE7 using 1gb+ memory, according to TaskManager, and while not even using IE browser.
Have FF, but need to use both IE and FF.
Have browsed 'IE memory leaks', and sounds like this may be the problem, but of what have found indicates there is no solution.
Also, upgrading to IE8 really isnt an option... tried that, even with Dell support, and couldnt get it done (they recommended wipe PC clean and reinstall XP etc... forget it).
Any good place to get solution, or clarification, on question of IE mem usage/leak ?

 

Have you tried to download IE8 but instead of installing it ,,just save it to your desktop,,then opening it up and then install????

 

What I do in such cases (and my PC is a mess, maybe because I've done this too often) is go Windows Task Manager > Processes and look for any IE Explorer processes. If it shows a process, and you haven't got IE running, end the process (click on 'End Process' button) [if you have more than one IE running, clicking 'End Process' may stop the wrong one: I've not found a way to link the Appliation in the Applications tab to the Process]. You also see how much memory XP thinks this process is using (I am baffled by the fact the total memory being used by all process in the Processes tab often appears to less than the 'Commit Charge' or 'PF usage'....) That will free memory, you should see after a few seconds your memory usage in the Windows Task Mananger Perfomance graphs suddenly drop.

I don't know if this procedure is recommended, but it seems to work...(comments from people who know what they're doing please ?)

Dumb_Question
29.January.2012

Compaq Presario S5160UK DT261A Celeron 2.7GHz - MSI MS-6577 v2.1 - XP/SP3