iexplore.exe task continues to run when trying to shutdown
 

Hi folks,

I have encountered an annoying problem at times when
trying to shut down our computer. I receive a dialog box
stating that "iexplore.exe" is not responding and the
machine will just sit there unless I click the 'end now'
button on the dialog. There are no application windows
open and Internet Explorer is not running. Sure enough,
if I check the Task Manager, iexplore.exe is indeed
running out there yet we do not have Internet Explorer
active at all.

We are running Windows XP Professional and Internet
Explorer 6.0.

The annoying thing is that it doesn't happen all the
time. Sometimes we can shut down the machine just fine
with no complaints at all.

Have any of you ever run across this before? Any
suggestions for how to fix?

Thanks in advance for the help!

Alan