[Duke of Milan]

This is a "problem" with xp and it really annoys me! The solution is you MUST use the resizing arrows to manually "maximize" the window; close it; now whenever you open an IE window they will be whatever size you closed the "maximum" window. WARNING: if you, for whatever reason, close an IE window at a reduced/different size THAT size will then be the new default for any IE windows afterwards.

[RoughDobermann]

Try #9. Worked for me!