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Q: Remove A Tool From Microsoft Internet Explorer ( Answered 5 out of 5 stars,   1 Comment )
Question  
Subject: Remove A Tool From Microsoft Internet Explorer
Category: Computers > Internet
Asked by: socalcat-ga
List Price: $5.00
Posted: 12 Sep 2002 23:30 PDT
Expires: 12 Oct 2002 23:30 PDT
Question ID: 64562
How do I get rid of a Tool that is listed on Microsoft Internet
Explorer Tools menu?  I have something called SMS versenden listed
under the Tools menu that appears to be German or Dutch.
Answer  
Subject: Re: Remove A Tool From Microsoft Internet Explorer
Answered By: alienintelligence-ga on 13 Sep 2002 03:01 PDT
Rated:5 out of 5 stars
 
Hi socalcat...

You asked;

"How do I get rid of a Tool that is listed on Microsoft Internet
Explorer Tools menu?"


I started looking on the net for a method
to remove menu items from the IE menu bar.
I already had a notion the easiest way was
to edit the registry. 


[-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-]

Figuring the creators or IE might be of some help, 
I did a google search for:

site:microsoft.com "internet explorer" menu tools registry
[ ://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Amicrosoft.com+%22internet+explorer%22+menu+tools+registry&btnG=Google+Search
]

"Developers who want to add items to the Tools menu
in Internet Explorer must be familiar with the registry.
This feature is only available in Internet Explorer 5 and
later"
[ http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/workshop/browser/ext/tutorials/menu.asp
]

is one of the resultant links.


[-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-]

While this does not deal directly with the 'removal'
of a tools item, it did confirm my thoughts that it
was registry based. It also confirmed the registry
location I had found while doing a search of my own
registry.

You did not mention what version of Internet Explorer
nor what version of Windows you are using. From what
I have seen, this should work on all Windows platforms
and as that Microsoft page alluded to, IE5 and up.

I have a menu item on my tools menu selection that
is called VisualRoute. I used that for my search,
and subsequent removal testing.


[-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-]

That said, are you familiar with the registry? If not
please take the time to read briefly over these following
links to become acquainted with navigating the registry.


"What is the Registry?"
"Windows Registry Tutorial"
by WinGuides.com
[ http://www.winguides.com/article.php?id=1&guide=registry ]
"The Registry is a database used to store settings and
options for the 32 bit versions of Microsoft Windows
including Windows 95, 98, ME and NT/2000. It contains
information and settings for all the hardware, software,
users, and preferences of the PC. Whenever a user makes
changes to a Control Panel settings, or File Associations,
System Policies, or installed software, the changes are
reflected and stored in the Registry.

"The physical files that make up the registry are stored
differently depending on your version of Windows; under
Windows 95 & 98 it is contained in two hidden files in your
Windows directory, called USER.DAT and SYSTEM.DAT, for
Windows Me there is an additional CLASSES.DAT file, while
under Windows NT/2000 the files are contained seperately in
the %SystemRoot%\System32\Config directory. You can not
edit these files directly, you must use a tool commonly
known as a "Registry Editor" to make any changes (using
registry editors will be discussed later in the article)."

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

"The Structure of the Registry "
"Windows Registry Tutorial"
by WinGuides.com
[ http://www.winguides.com/article.php?id=1&page=2&guide=registry ]
"The Registry has a hierarchical structure, although it looks
complicated the structure is similar to the directory
structure on your hard disk, with Regedit being similar to
Windows Explorer.

"Each main branch (denoted by a folder icon in the Registry
Editor, see left) is called a Hive, and Hives contains
Keys. Each key can contain other keys (sometimes referred
to as sub-keys), as well as Values. The values contain the
actual information stored in the Registry. There are three
types of values; String, Binary, and DWORD - the use of
these depends upon the context."

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

"Editing the Registry"
"Windows Registry Tutorial"
by WinGuides.com
[ http://www.winguides.com/article.php?id=1&page=3&guide=registry ]
"The Registry Editor (REGEDIT.EXE) is included with most version of
Windows (although you won't find it on the Start Menu) it enables
you to view, search and edit the data within the Registry. There
are several methods for starting the Registry Editor, the simplest
is to click on the Start button, then select Run, and in the Open
box type "regedit", and if the Registry Editor is installed it
should now open and look like the image below.

"An alternative Registry Editor (REGEDT32.EXE) is available for use
with Windows NT/2000, it includes some additional features not
found in the standard version, including; the ability to view and
modify security permissions, and being able to create and modify
the extended string values REG_EXPAND_SZ & REG_MULTI_SZ."


[-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-]

To open the Registry Editor and find the key:

1.Click Start, and then click Run.
2.In the Open box, type regedit, and then click OK.
3.When regedit opens, find a key that is called
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\InternetExplorer\Extensions


When you have found this key click on the + next to it.
One of the subkeys below that should contain the offending
menu item. Just click on each item on the left and look 
for the menu item name on the right hand side as a value
under "MenuText"

On mine, the MenuText was called VisualRoute Trace. Yours
should be the: SMS versenden 

I backed up the Extensions key by selecting it on the
left, then clicking on File and Export. A new dialog
pops up, and you save the selected branch somewhere that
you can find it again.

After it was all safe and backed up, I highlighted on the
left-side, under Extensions, the key that contains the menutext 
for the item I wanted to remove. I hit delete and click
Yes to confirm. After closing and reopening Internet
Explorer, I went to the Tools menu-option and no more 
VisualRoute. As a bonus it also removed the icon that had 
been placed on the tool bar also.

If you had an icon on the toolbar and wanted to leave it
but just remove the Tools menu item... removing the two
strings on the right hand pane by deleting MenuStatusBar
and MenuText would accomplish this.

I uploaded a screen capture of what my registry looks like
where you will find the IE menu items.

[ http://www.alienintelligence.com/images/ai_registry_sample.jpg ]


[-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-][-]

-search techniques-

confirmed with a search on google of

site:microsoft.com "internet explorer" menu tools registry
[ ://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Amicrosoft.com+%22internet+explorer%22+menu+tools+registry&btnG=Google+Search
]

Windows Registry Tutorial
[ ://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=Windows+Registry+Tutorial
]



Hope this helps you out. If you are unclear about a 
point or it doesn't seem to work for you, please
ask for a clarification.

thanks for choosing answers.google

-AI
socalcat-ga rated this answer:5 out of 5 stars
Very thorough explanation.

Comments  
Subject: Re: Remove A Tool From Microsoft Internet Explorer
From: paresh_pandit-ga on 16 Aug 2004 22:07 PDT
 
Sir

I ran regedit and browsed to the said key...
There, i could find the items from the Tools Menu...

However, the one i wanted to remove, was not listed...
I have checked all keys properly with their Button_Texts and URLs...
It seems to be absent there [while others are present]...
What should I do now? Where could be that key?

Any and all help is highly appreciated...
Thanks...

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