Updated: May 18, 2004

1. Go to Control Panel and select Add/Remove Programs
2. Select Microsoft Internet Explorer from the list
3. Click the Add/Remove button (yes, really). A window with three options will appear.
4. Select Repair Internet Explorer.
5. Click OK. Click Yes. The Repair tool will attempt restore IE to a known-good state. Reboot when complete.

For additional information, read MS Knowledge Base article 194177-Description of the Internet Explorer Repair Tool

With IE6, the Add/Remove option might not be available. You can start the repair from a command line. Do Start, Run, and enter the following:

• rundll32 setupwbv.dll,IE6Maintenance "C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\Setup\SETUP.EXE" /g "%WINDIR%\IE Uninstall Log.Txt"

Internet Explorer repair techniques that work in Windows 2000 probably won't work in Windows XP, because IE is tightly integrated into XP. Sometimes re-installing IE6 will work. Run the following command:

• rundll32.exe setupapi, InstallHinfSection DefaultInstall 132 %windir%\inf\ie.inf

If IE cannot be reinstalled, you can reset a key in the Registry. Change the DWORD from IsInstalled=1 to IsInstalled=0:

• [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \SOFTWARE \Microsoft \Active Setup \Installed Components \{44BBA840-CC51-11CF-AAFA-00AA00B6015C}] IsInstalled = 0