The Internet Explorer Toolbar Is Not Showing in Windows XP With IE8
- When Internet Explorer 8 is running under Windows XP, the toolbars may be missing. The toolbars, including the menu bar, the address bar, the favorites bar and the command bar may be absent altogether or may be present yet black and unreadable. When the toolbars appear black, Internet Explorer may be functional but difficult to use. This problem may also be intermittent, causing the toolbars to disappear at certain times only to function normally later.
- On a Windows XP computer, mIssing toolbars in Internet Explorer 8 are often caused by problems with add-ons, settings and the Windows Registry. If the toolbars are completely absent, they may have been disabled in Internet Explorer 8. When the toolbars are black, the problem may appear after you install software, updates or drivers or make changes to your Windows XP display settings. The problem may also occur when the drivers for your graphics card have become outdated.
- You may be able to solve problems with missing toolbars by reenabling them. Open Internet Explorer 8, then click "View" and "Toolbars." Select the toolbars you wish to enable from the drop-down list. Another solution is to update your video drivers through Device Manager. Click "Start," and right-click "My Computer." Select "Properties" and click the "Hardware" tab. Select "Device Manager." Expand the "Display Adapters" list, right-click your video card and select "Update Driver.". If the problem is caused by an add-on, you can fix it by clicking "Tools" and "Manage Add-ons" in Internet Explorer. Disable any add-ons that may be causing the toolbars not to appear correctly, then click "Close."
- If these solutions fail to solve your problem with the Internet Explorer 8 toolbars, you can fix the toolbars by editing the registry. Click "Start," "Run," type "regedit" and click "OK." Click "File" and "Export," then type a file name and click "Save" to create a regsitry backup. Expand "HKEY_CURRENT_USER," "Software," "Microsoft," "Internet Explorer" and "Toolbar." Open the "WebBrowser" subkey, right-click the "ITBarLayout" value and click "Delete." Open Internet Explorer 8 and see if the toolbars have returned. If not, return to the registry editor. Expand "HKEY_CURRENT_USER," "Software," "Microsoft," "Internet Explorer," "Toolbar" and "ShellBrowser." Right-click "ITBarLayout" and click "Delete."