Web sites do not display or work correctly, or Internet Explorer stops responding, stops working, or restarts

Introduction | Your environment | Symptoms | Method 4

Method 4 Disable browser toolbars and add-ons
4 Internet Explorer browser toolbars and add-ons, such as ActiveX controls, give you a better browsing experience. However, an error might occur if any add-on is damaged or if any add-on conflicts with Internet Explorer.
Benefits of this method
  • By removing add-ons, you can improve the performance of Internet Explorer.
Drawbacks of this method
  • Unfortunately, this method might not work. But if it does not work, we will give you instructions to guide you on to your next steps.
This method is rated:
  • Easy
  • Estimated time: 10 minutes

You may find it easier to follow the steps if you print this article first.

To disable browser toolbars and add-ons, follow these steps.
Step 1 Temporarily disable all installed browser toolbars and add-ons.
  1. Click Start, and then click Start Search.
  2. Type iexplore.exe –extoff, and then press ENTER. Note that Internet Explorer 7 opens without add-ons, toolbars, or plug-ins, but that you can still surf the Internet in this browser window.
Step 2 Check whether the Internet Explorer problem is resolved.

Now that all toolbars and add-ons have been disabled, use this browser window to check whether the Internet Explorer problem is resolved. If you know that this problem occurred by visiting a particular Web page or by following certain steps, try doing that now to see whether the problem still occurs.

If you close the Internet Explorer window that you opened in Step 1, repeat Step 1 to reopen it because you are checking whether the problem is resolved. Also, you might notice that some Web sites might not be displayed correctly and that some features might not be available in Internet Explorer now that add-ons have been disabled. But that is not important right now. So, as soon as you are finished checking, do one of the following based on what you found in your testing.


If the problem is resolved, continue on to Step 3.
If the problem is not resolved, go to "Method 4 verification and next steps."

Step 3 Determine which add-on is causing the problem and disable the problematic add-on.
Because the problem is resolved, we know that the problem was caused by at least one add-on that is either damaged or that conflicts with Internet Explorer 7.0. The next step is to determine which add-on or add-ons were causing the problem. To do this, we will ask you to enable your add-ons one at a time, and then to test again to see whether the problem still occurs. If the problem does not still occur, we will ask you to enable another add-on and to test again. And we will keep doing this until we have tested all the add-ons. How long this will take depends on how many add-ons you have installed on your computer. So, let's begin.
  1. Start Internet Explorer the way that you usually start it. That is, do not start it the way that we asked you to start it in Step 1 of this method.
  2. Click the Tools menu, and then click Manage Add-ons. The Manage Internet Explorer Add-ons dialog box opens.
  3. Under Filters, click Add-ons currently loaded in Internet Explorer.
  4. Under Name, click an add-on in the list, and then click Disable.
  5. In the Disable Add-on dialog box, clickDisable to confirm that you do want to disable the listed add-on.
  6. Repeat steps d. though e. to disable all add-ons except one.
  7. When you have disabled all add-ons except one, click Close.
  8. Now, check whether the Internet Explorer problem still occurs when you have only this one add-on enabled.
If the problem still occurs
  • You have identified a problematic add-on. To be able to use Internet Explorer problem-free, leave this add-on disabled for now. If the add-on is important to you, contact the manufacturer of the add-on to see whether the manufacturer has an update that will make the add-on behave correctly.
If the problem no longer occurs
  • You know that this add-on is not causing the problem. So, repeat steps B through F, but this time keep another add-on enabled. And continue doing this until you have tested all the add-ons in the list.
Verification Method 4 verification and next steps

If this method worked

If the Internet Explorer problem is resolved, you are finished! But you might still want to do the following:

If this method did not work

Last Review : July 30, 2009