If you get the error  “Internet Explorer has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience.” from IE8 (Internet Explorer 8), there’s a chance it is a problem with jQuery specifically a bug with jQuery v1.6.2. The solution is to upgrade to the latest version of jQuery.

I found the problem via Rob Spangler’s blog post Random IE8 Crashes – “This tab has been recovered”. So all the thanks go to him.