Internet Explorer Memory Usage

Microsoft Professional Advisory Services is a support option that provides short-term, proactive, consultative support beyond break-fix product maintenance needs. This includes working with the same technician for assistance with issues like product migration, code review, or new program development and is a remote, phone-based support option. This service is typically used for shorter engagements, and is designed for developers and IT professionals who do not require the traditional onsite consulting or sustained account management services that are available from other Microsoft support options.

For additional information on Microsoft Advisory Services, including on how to engage, refer to this Microsoft web page:

http://support.microsoft.com/gp/AdvisoryService

This Advisory Services scenario is designed to assist customers who need to identify and resolve memory leaks in an existing, possibly complex application; especially where it is likely there may be multiple leaks to resolve or where assistance is needed to create new code to accomplish specific tasks while avoiding code patterns that are known to contribute to memory consumption.

Statement of Work for this Scenario:

Internet Explorer Memory Usage Advisory

Included with Scope

• Gathering data on leaked memory with DebugDiag.
• Identifying kinds of objects involved in consumed memory, e.g. JavaScript source (suggesting circular references), JavaScript allocated objects, pages, windows, event handlers, controls, etc.
• Advice on coding around a known IE issue (when customer can�t upgrade or has no control over users� configuration).
• Scope will include an agreement on what reduction in memory consumption is to be achieved within the scope of work.
  • Identifying and correcting memory leaks is an iterative process, and it may take several iterations to reduce memory consumption to the level that is deemed acceptable. It is often NOT possible to scope more than one iteration of identifying a cause of a leak and the steps to mitigate it.
• The support engineer will identify something that needs to be changed or possibly several instances of a pattern that needs to be changed. The customer will be responsible for finding remaining instances of the same pattern and making changes in all the necessary places.

Out of Scope

• Any leak that is identified as a bug should be handled in a support incident. (This Advisory Scenario may still be used for mitigations needed when a fix is available and the customer cannot upgrade to it or require its use.)
• Code mitigations for versions of Internet Explorer for which support is no longer available.

Scoping Questions

• Architecture
  1. What is the nature of the application (e.g. web application, intranet/public web site, WebBrowser host application, control, script library, etc.)?
  2. For a web application, what script libraries are being used? (list)
  3. For an application or components that aren�t HTML/script, what language is being used?
  4. Are ActiveX controls being used on web pages in this application? (list)
• Scale
  1. For WebBrowser host applications, how much code is in the application? (this can be an estimate of lines specific to the module/class/form that hosts the control.)
  2. For a web application, please estimate the number of pages, the size range of the pages, and the number and amount of script code.
• Goal
  1. If there is an existing application or prototype, what memory consumption has been observed?
  2. What reduction in that memory usage is desired through this Advisory scenario?
  3. What level of memory consumption could be acceptable?

Below is a list of self-help resources for this scenario. Microsoft Support Engineers may also use these resources during an Advisory Services engagement.

Debug Diagnostic Tool v1.2

Understanding and Solving Internet Explorer Leak PatternsTools for Detecting Memory Leaks (IEBlog post)