Fix #1: (Easy fix for Novice Users)

Simply create a regular Shortcut on your desktop. Since this is a regular shortcut it will have the regular shortcut look and Properties context menu will not allow direct access to Internet Explorer's "Tools\Internet Options" menu.

Fix #2: (Moderate Difficulty)

This is particularly relevant if IE icon is missing only from one or a few users only.

1) Use "regedit" tool and navigate to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CLSID\{871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30309D}\ShellFolder

2) On the right pane you should see "Attributes" which is a REG_DWORD value. IE sets this value to 0x10000 to hide the icon when deleted. Either delete it or rename it (say to "xAttributes") or set it to value 0.

3) Exit Regedit and click on the desktop and press F5 key (or right click and select Refresh). If this does not bring IE icon, try logout/login again or reboot the computer.

Fix #3: (Moderate Difficulty)

This solution works for older Internet Explorer. For recent versions of IE, it may recreate the icon but Icon might not work to launch the program. Try this fix if the solution #2 does not work.

1) Select HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace

2) Add a key with the name {FBF23B42-E3F0-101B-8488-00AA003E56F8}

3) Now select the new key created above. Edit "(Default)" value from the right pane. Change the string value to The Internet

4) Exit Regedit and click on the desktop and press F5 key (or right click and select Refresh). If this does not bring IE icon, try logout/login again or reboot the computer.

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by DrTCP
last modified: 2003-08-20 18:58:28