Menu bar/Toolbar Missing in Windows Explorer and/or Internet Explorer

applied to: Windows XP/2000

What

When you open Windows Explorer or Internet Explorer you see that Menu bar and/or Toolbar is missing.

Why

One or more ITBarLayout values in the Windows Registry got corrupted.

How to fix

To resolve this problem, edit the registry to remove the corrupt value(s).

  1. Close all open Internet Explorer and Windows Explorer windows.
  2. Start the Registry Editor (Click Start, Run and enter REGEDIT.EXE).
  3. Go to the following Registry key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Toolbar
    For Windows Explorer:
    • In the right pane, locate the Explorer sub-key and open it.
    • In the right pane, locate the ITBarLayout value.
    • Right click this value and select Delete.
    For Internet Explorer:
    • In the right pane, locate the WebBrowser sub-key and open it.
    • In the right pane, locate the ITBarLayout value.
    • Right click this value and select Delete.
  4. Quit Registry Editor.
  5. Open the affected program (Windows Explorer or Internet Explorer) and verify that you're Menu bar/Toolbar has been restored.
  6. If not, repeat steps 1-3.
  7. Then locate the ShellBrowser sub-key, open it and delete the ITBarLayout value there.
  8. Hope it works!
For more information refer to a blog at http://support.microsoft.com
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