LE 7.0 crashes when trying to launch program (Factory plug-ins won't load)

[Severa]

Hi fellow M Boxers,

Up til now I've had nearly 4 years of using Pro Tools LE 7.0 / Win XP / M-Box 2 with absolutrly no problems (aside from the occasional Bounce To Disk error which is fixable with deleting preferences and databases).

The following error has started with the 'Factory' plug-ins (the extra bundle of plug ins). When launching the program the screen freezes when it tries to load Cosmonaut Voice. If I remove Cosmonaut Voice and the other Factory plug-ins from the plug-ins folder then Pro Tools launches fine.

The Factory plug-ins causing this issue are:
Cosmonaut Voice.dpm
JOEMEEK Compressor.dpm
JOEMEEK Meequalizer.dpm
Maxim.dpm
moogerfooger Delay.dpm

I don't really care whether Cosmonaut Voice works or not, but I do use the Joe Meek plug ins and Maxim. Considering the Factory bundle was extra money to buy, why should the plug-ins suddenly become incompatible?

The error first occurred the next time I launched Pro Tools after earlier doing a Bounce To Disk with a previous session. The Bounce To Disk operation had failed the first time so I did the trick of clearing the preferences and databases (which I've done on numerous occasions in the past with no negative impact on other parts of the system). It may or may not be related.

Has anyone else encountered this problem? (and found a solution)?

I have tried wiping every trace of Pro Tools and plug ins from my system and reinstalling but this has had no impact.

It's incredibly annoying. There must be some sort of work-around or update (or downgrade perhaps?) to get my system back to how it has been functioning perfectly fine for the past 4 years!

Many thanks for any ideas and help.

[Severa]

The answer to this problem is:

Get rid of Windows Internet Explorer 8.

http://duc.digidesign.com/showthread.php?t=243183

It took literally hours of searching to find out this answer. Hopefully writing it here will save someone a lot of time in the future.