Windows 8 IE10 File Download Crash

I’ve been very pleased so far working with Windows 8 Enterprise as my primary OS…save for one rather significant issue: Every time I attempted to initiate a file download in Internet Explorer 10, it would crash.

This typically happened when another application attempted to make the call for the download, such as Chrysanth WebStory prompting to download the latest update or clicking on a download link in Outlook 2013.  Since I tend to use Chrome quite a bit, this started out as a minor annoyance. However, there’s only so many times you copy a URL from one browser to another to download a file before you decided to actually solve the problem

So, a quick check in the Application Event Log pointed me down the path of an Add-On called InfoAtoms:

Faulting application name: IEXPLORE.EXE, version: 10.0.9200.16384, time stamp: 0x50107ee0
Faulting module name: InfoAtomsClientIE.dll, version: 1.4.0.0, time stamp: 0x50613ed5
Exception code: 0xc0000005
Fault offset: 0×00006574
Faulting process id: 0×1900
Faulting application start time: 0x01cdb770d12f6537
Faulting application path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Internet Explorer\IEXPLORE.EXE
Faulting module path: C:\Program Files (x86)\InfoAtoms\IE32\InfoAtomsClientIE.dll
Report Id: 0f5c7abb-2364-11e2-be70-90004edad270
Faulting package full name:
Faulting package-relative application ID:

Checking the Add-ons in Internet Explorer, I could see it installed…but without the option to Disable.

Only one choice left then: Uninstall in Programs and Features.

Note – Although only the “Change” option is available in Programs and Features, selecting it kicks off the Uninstall utility. Also, the uninstall will forcibly close ALL your browser windows (including IE, Chrome and Firefox) without any warning.

I didn’t see any specifics on others having this same issue, so hopefully if you’ve found this article it will help you out. I’m still not sure what application install had InfoAtoms bundled with it, as I’m quite certain I didn’t specifically install that utility.  This was a clean install of Windows 8 done within the last couple weeks, so I already have it narrowed down to a relatively small list. If I identify the offending install I’ll be sure to post it.