How to Fix the Memory Leak in IE WebBrowser Control?

Question

I am trying to embed a WebBrowser Control in a C# Winform Application. This sounds easy enough. However I discovered that the WebBrowser control eats up a lot of memory ever

Answer 1

I looked all over the internet and I was unable to find an answer to this problem. I fixed it using the below:

Protected Sub disposeBrowers()
    If debug Then debugTrace()
    If Me.InvokeRequired Then
        Me.Invoke(New simple(AddressOf disposeBrowers))
    Else
        Dim webCliffNavigate As String = webCliff.Url.AbsoluteUri

        'Dim webdollarNavigate As String = webDollar.Url.AbsoluteUri
        Me.splContainerMain.SuspendLayout()
        Me.splCliffDwellers.Panel2.Controls.Remove(webCliff)
        Me.splDollars.Panel2.Controls.Remove(webDollar)
        RemoveHandler webCliff.DocumentCompleted, AddressOf webCliff_DocumentCompleted
        RemoveHandler webDollar.DocumentCompleted, AddressOf webDollar_DocumentCompleted
        RemoveHandler webCliff.GotFocus, AddressOf setDisposeEvent
        RemoveHandler webCliff.LostFocus, AddressOf setDisposeEvent
        RemoveHandler webDollar.GotFocus, AddressOf setDisposeEvent
        RemoveHandler webDollar.LostFocus, AddressOf setDisposeEvent
        webCliff.Stop()
        webDollar.Stop()

        Dim tmpWeb As SHDocVw.WebBrowser = webCliff.ActiveXInstance
        System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal.ReleaseComObject(tmpWeb)
        webCliff.Dispose()

        tmpWeb = webDollar.ActiveXInstance
        System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal.ReleaseComObject(tmpWeb)
        webDollar.Dispose()

        webCliff = Nothing
        webDollar = Nothing
        GC.AddMemoryPressure(50000)
        GC.Collect()
        GC.WaitForPendingFinalizers()
        GC.Collect()
        GC.WaitForFullGCComplete()
        GC.Collect()
        GC.RemoveMemoryPressure(50000)
        webCliff = New WebBrowser()
        webDollar = New WebBrowser()
        webCliff.CausesValidation = False
        webCliff.Dock = DockStyle.Fill
        webDollar.CausesValidation = webCliff.CausesValidation
        webDollar.Dock = webCliff.Dock
        webDollar.ScriptErrorsSuppressed = True
        webDollar.Visible = True
        webCliff.Visible = True
        Me.splCliffDwellers.Panel2.Controls.Add(webCliff)
        Me.splDollars.Panel2.Controls.Add(webDollar)
        Me.splContainerMain.ResumeLayout()

        'vb.net for some reason automatically recreates these and the below is not needed
        'AddHandler webCliff.DocumentCompleted, AddressOf webCliff_DocumentCompleted
        'AddHandler webDollar.DocumentCompleted, AddressOf webDollar_DocumentCompleted
        'AddHandler webCliff.GotFocus, AddressOf setDisposeEvent
        'AddHandler webCliff.LostFocus, AddressOf setDisposeEvent
        'AddHandler webDollar.GotFocus, AddressOf setDisposeEvent
        'AddHandler webDollar.LostFocus, AddressOf setDisposeEvent

        webCliff.Navigate(webCliffNavigate)
        'webDollar.Navigate(webdollarNavigate)
        disposeOfBrowsers = Now.AddMinutes(20)
    End If
End Sub

I know this is not the prettiest or perfect solution, but it worked very well for me. -- Layla