When you double-click the Internet Explorer 7 icon on the desktop after you install Windows XP SP3, Internet Explorer does not start, and a new Internet Explorer shortcut is created

Consider the following scenario:

• On a Windows XP-based computer, you install Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3).
• You have Windows Internet Explorer 7 installed.

When you double-click the Internet Explorer icon on the computer's desktop in this scenario, Internet Explorer 7 does not start as expected. Instead, a new shortcut is created on the desktop. If you click the Internet Explorer icon multiple times, multiple Internet Explorer shortcuts are created.

Note When you click these additional Internet Explorer shortcuts, nothing happens.

This issue occurs if the following conditions are true:

• Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) is installed and activated on the computer.
• Internet Explorer 7 is installed on the computer.
• All the current updates are installed for Windows XP SP2.
• You start Windows XP SP2, and then you insert a Windows XP SP3 Full Product CD into the computer's CD or DVD drive.
• On the Windows XP SP3 installation screen, you select the Upgrade (Recommended) option, and then you complete the installation process.

To resolve this issue, reinstall the latest release of Internet Explorer.

To download and to install the latest release of Internet Explorer, visit the following Microsoft Web site: