IE opens on its own numerous times

[holycowelsie]

OK, so I know just about enough to be dangerous.
My sister calls me all the time with this problem.
When she turns on her computer her IE opens numerous times
on its own. What are the possible causes of this?

I have advised her to make sure she has a spyware program,
(she didn't have one) . Also she has a teenager that downloaded
a lot of video chatrooms, other junk, etc.

We removed all the extra programs, but still, the problem
persists.

I won't be able to supply any logs at this time since she's in
a different state, but, let me know if you have any idea
what would cause this and how I can help her troubleshoot.

Thanks!!

[C.C.2020]

She probably needs to download a free spyware program; Ad Aware, Spybot etc. unless she already did. If she downloaded one have her run a full spyware scan with it.

[Broni]

She also needs to sign in here, so we can talk to her directly.

[soybean]

What OS do they have on that computer?  Do they have a firewall enabled? 

This sounds like a major spyware infestation, one that's going to take multiple tools to cleanup.  I'd also find out whether they have their Windows CD.  A mess like this is often best resolved by formatting the hard drive and reinstalling Windows.

[C.C.2020]

A few years ago, when I had an adware infestation, about 100 duplicate pages of IE and my home page opened up and I had to close them all, then restart my computer. But about a week later I was notified that a Trojan Horse had attacked my computer, which could be the issue, I'm not sure if what happened with Ie was related to the trojan but to a Gain adware program on my computer, most likely the adware. but maybe she should scan for viruses to be safe.