What is Internet Explorer's new Add-On Manager?

Read the article that everyone's commenting on.
Subscribe to the RSS Feed for comments on this article.

Since installing XP SP2, I can no longer view pdf files in internet explorer. I've gone into the add on manager, and it says the acrobat control for activex is disabled. It does not allow me to enable it since "it is managed by my administrator." This is a home computer and I am only able to log on under one name. How do I fix this?

Recently, I disabled 6 questionable add-ons to cure an ugly popup problem. It worked. This was a hit and miss, try anything approach. Unlike TaskBar processes, I can not google the names of add-ons (or their filenames) because I get page after page of meaningless HiJack logs. Even a not symbol (-) doesn't work. Yes, I tried lavasoft, spybot, etc., but they did not resolve the issue. What I'd like to find is a list of published add-ons and their known purpose. Even if bad guys re-use a name, this is a start !! Thanks for your consideration. Great web site !!

"Since installing XP SP2, I can no longer view pdf files in internet explorer. I've gone into the add on manager, and it says the acrobat control for activex is disabled. It does not allow me to enable it since "it is managed by my administrator." This is a home computer and I am only able to log on under one name. How do I fix this?"

I have the same comment regarding Adobe Acrobat, I cannot change the disabled setting... However, in this case, I am the administrator and I don't believe there are any other user names on this computer.

I'd be tempted to reinstall acrobat as a first step.

Hello,
Trying to find out how new add-ons are installed and where they need to be stored on disk? I'm trying to have explorer recognize this add-on on a friends laptop:

Name File
Web Browser Applet Control msjava.dll

I located this file under c:\windows\system32 on my machine. He saved the msjava file in the same place on his laptop and rebooted. Explorer does not see this add-on. We are both running XP SP2. How are add-ons installed, and seen by explorer? Thanks.

It usually also takes additional registry entries ... just having the file isn't enough. Normally a setup program is involved.

Leo, can you tell me which setup program?

Unfortunately, no. That depends entirely on the add-on, or the program(s) it came with.

mine is IE7.. i have i problem on "internet explorer is currently running with add-ons disabled" i my tools menu, i cant select the Manage Add-Ons. so what can i do to slove the problem? thanks for your help!:)

I have the same problem as Paul. Suddenly I found myself in "add-ons disabled mode" and the Manage Add-Ons in the tools menu is greyed out and inactive. How can get back to normal? Is this a beta glitch and I would have to re-install ie7?

To post a comment on "What is Internet Explorer's new Add-On Manager?", please return to that article's main page.