On first run, many browsers open tabs, especially if you haven’t run them in a while. I get them occasionally due to an extension add-on updating, but if you don’t use a browser for a couple of weeks, you could get a huge pile of updates, leading to many tabs.
Unless there’s been major changes, I’d say IE is the second worst option out there; only the PC version of Safari is worse. In fact, Apple no longer supports Safari for Windows, so it lacks 2 years worth of security updates.
Between the antivirus’ inability to handle unwanted programs, possible open wifi, and the use of IE, I shudder to think what sort of infections you may have that could cause this.