Add Internet Explorer To The Windows Vista Desktop
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When you install Windows Vista, one of the first things you will notice is that there are no icons on the desktop. In a previous article, I showed you how to add some of the common icons, such as My Computer and the Recycle Bin, back to the Windows Vista desktop by personalizing the desktop. However, one of the icons that cannot be added this way is Internet Explorer.
If you want to add an icon for IE to the desktop in Windows Vista, you have to edit the registry using the steps that are described below.
- Open the Registry Editor.
- Navigate to the following registry key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\NewStartPanel.
- Create the following key (DWORD 32-bit): {871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30309D}.
- Close the Registry Editor. The icon should appear on your desktop within a few moments.
[tags]windows, vista, vista tips[/tags]
3 Comments
Carol Robinson
August 29th, 2007
at 3:02am
Thanks, Diana for all your tips. Your articles are hilight of this newsletter for me.
Carol
Bradford
August 29th, 2007
at 5:17am
Talk about doing it the hard way. If your quick launch area is displayed, you can right click on the IE icon, Copy Shortcut, then paste the shortcut onto the desktop. If you need to turn on quick launch, right click the taskbar, select properties, and check Show Quick Launch.
Brenda
December 9th, 2007
at 8:57am
This fix didn’t work for me. I found it all over the internet in forums and in tips others had posted. This is what I did, and perhaps making the registry changes first helped in the icon appearing, but I had to take these extra steps:
Right click on the task bar, you will see the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties. Click the Start Menu tab. Make sure the Start Menu radio button is checked and then choose Customize. Then you will see Customize Start Menu. Toward the bottom of the box you will see Use Default Settings, immediately beneath that you will see Show on Start Menu and beneath that you will see two check boxes. Make sure Internet Link is checked and in the drop down box choose Internet Explorer.
In the Start Menu, right click on the Internet Explorer icon and choose Internet Properties. Click on the Programs tab. The last option in the Programs tab is Internet Programs. Choose Set Programs, then choose set program access and computer defaults, if you are prompted to stop or continue, choose continue, you will see Microsoft Programs, Non Microsoft and Custom. Click the Custom Radio button. The first option is Choose a Default browser, click the Internet Explorer radio button and then click OK and then click out of all open windows.
I hope this works for those for whom the other methods didn’t work.