Internet Explorer 11 not executing 32-bit processes

Question

Haven't found another posting exactly like this, so I am making one. I have a workstation running Windows 7 SP1 x64 with Internet Explorer 11 (v.11.0.9600.17728). I have a third-party 32-bit ActiveX Control that needs to run in this browser. However, every
time I execute iexplore, it opens as a 64 bit process.  My understanding was that by default, IE11 runs a 64-bit wrapper, with 32-bit tabs, however when I check Task Manager, all I am seeing is a single iexplore.exe process, no iexplore.exe*32, no matter
how many tabs I open, I only see the single iexplore process. I also cannot click and drag tabs to spawn separate IE windows; the tabs are all stuck in the single Internet Explorer window. I've tried manually running iexplore from the x86 Program Files folder
and it still only runs the single 64-bit process. I'm looking for some guidance as to where to go next as this user needs to run this add-on and can't unless I can successfully get the 32-bit IE tabs to open.  The last version that I've confirmed successfully
opened iexplore*32 processes was IE9, which was on here previously. IE10 and 11 have both failed to execute separate processes. Any assistance is much appreciated. Thanks.

Answer 1

Hi,
Based on my test, same result with Frederik. For your situation, have you tried to reset IE for test? 
In addition, Enable IE protected mode and turn on 64 bit tab option is not help with this problem. If you doubt it is Group Policy problem, you can use GPresult command to check if there is any settings about IE.
Open CMD with Administrator, type  GPRESULT /H GPReport.html
After that, type .\GPReport.html command to open the report.
If no use, you can try to use Process Monitor to check IE startup process for test. We may found some clue with this problem.
You can access to the link below to download Process Monitor:
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896645.aspx
How to capture a Process Monitor trace:
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/dswl/archive/2010/01/10/how-to-capture-a-process-monitor-trace.aspx
Learning Example:
Using Process Monitor to Troubleshoot and Find Registry Hacks:
http://www.howtogeek.com/school/sysinternals-pro/lesson5/all/
Note: Since the website is not hosted by Microsoft, the link may change without notice. Microsoft does not guarantee the accuracy of this information. 
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