How to Add Internet Explorer icon on the Desktop in Windows Vista?


No, this is not same as creating an Internet Explorer Shortcut on the Desktop. Instead you will get to see an Internet Explorer icon just as My Computer or Recycle Bin icon. This was present in earlier versions of Windows.

This can be helpful in configuring the properties (Internet Options) of Internet Explorer directly by choosing Properties from its right click menu instead of opening it and then navigating to Internet Options window.



Figure 1


In the above figure there is one more option in the Context menu “Start Without Add-on”. This is beneficial for troubleshooting purposes.

You can add Internet Explorer icon on the Desktop in the following way:

1) Open Registry Editor and expand the branch

HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software\Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ HideDesktopIcons \ NewStartPanel in the left pane



Figure 2


2) Now right click on the right pane and choose New and then DWORD (32-bit) Value options as shown above

3) Name this DWORD as {871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30309D} and double click it



Figure 3


4) Type 0 in the Value data textbox and click OK button



Figure 4


5) Close Registry Editor

6) Now refresh your Desktop and you can see the Internet Explorer icon on the Desktop as shown in Figure 1


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