Internet Explorer 8

ID #1128

Repair IE8 (IE7) and IE9

This script works for IE9 as well. In particular it seems to fix the problem that after a successful installation the IE launch "blinks away" without an error message. I suggest to also completely reset IE at Internet Options, advanced, in this case after running the script.

This script is a rewrite of my repair script for IE6. It works with IE7 and IE8. There are two new downloads for 64bit systems, one for 32bit IE, one for 64bit IE. I thank several users from the newsgroups/forums for testing and fellow MVP Robert Aldwinckle for valuable tips. I don't have a 64bit version of Windows installed, so the new scripts would not exist without them.

Usage: unzip the download and run the cmd file in it with a doubleclick. On Vista/Windows 7 you have to do this with administrator privileges (right-click on the cmd file and choose "run as administrator"). The command window will stay open after excecution, so you can check for errors. Do not run in "safe mode". If the problem doesn't go away you may need to reboot Windows for it to take effect. Also, it may be helpful to reset IE completely (as explained above).

This script is mainly intended to fix some missing registrations of system libraries (dlls) after initial installation of IE8. You can use it later, too. The missing registrations are usually a result of using registry cleaners. So, don't use them! But it registers or installs all files that are part of IE8 as they come with the IE8 setup file, plus a few others which are known for clear problem symptoms in case their registration got lost.

Recently (after Windows 7 launch) there have been many reports on problems with 32bit IE8 on Windows 7 64bit, that can be corrected with the ie8-rereg.32-on-64.cmd script. You should be aware that this is not a bug in Windows or IE. These problems are created by not-uptodate programs that write wrong values in the registry where they should not write at all. A known example are Opera versions that come pre-installed on "magazine CDs" for browsing the content of those disks.

Among other symptoms this script may fix:

  • open in new tab/window not working
  • Find on this page "empty"
  • tabs on Favorites pane missing
  • about screen and other dialogs "empty"
  • IE8 closes immediately (not if caused by an add-on!)
  • can't print (interface not registered)

The reregistration of the crypto functionality (initpki) is commented out. It's very rarely necessary and takes a long time to finish. In case you really need it, please look in the script (at the end) and activate it.

The new scripts for 64bit Windows do not contain the shdocvw.dll fix anymore as this bug seems to occur only on Windows XP. In case you need that fix you can look up the necessary reg command at the end of the script. You know that you need that fix if the new tabs page (about:tabs) is changed and doesn't display the last visited sites anymore after running the script.

1. 3.2011: Version 1.09 of ie8-rereg is a slightly changed version that runs the shdocvw.dll bugfix only on Windows XP. This avoids the "access denied" error on Windows 7. Thanks, Adam, for reporting. Please note: This error was harmless and did not indicate any failure in the script! If you got that error it means that you are running on Windows 7 where this fix is not necessary. The "on64" scripts haven't had this command from the beginning because it is not necessary.Therefore the "on64" scripts are unchanged and still on version 1.08.

This script cannot fix all problems ;-)

Versions: (please download the correct one for your Windows version!)
ie8-rereg.zip: for IE7/8 on 32bit-Windows
ie8-rereg.32on64.zip: for 32bit IE8 on 64bit Windows
ie8-rereg.64on64.zip: for 64bit IE8 on 64bit Windows
ie8-rereg.all.zip: contains all the above scripts

attached files: ie8-rereg.64on64.zip, ie8-rereg.all.zip, ie8-rereg.zip, ie8-rereg.32on64.zip

Categories for this entry

Tags: IE8, IE9

Related entries:

Last update: 2011-11-15 15:10
Author: Kai Schätzl
Revision: 1.10

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Average rating: 3.8 out of 5 (1760 Votes )

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Comment of :
It works great, my problem was, can't open IE8 32bits on Win7 64bit since need to monitor my DVR remotely as it work only on IE 32bits cause of activeX issue. now i'm really happy it works great without the need to re install win7....
Added at: 2011-11-14 12:33

Comment of :
Holy Crap!! I've been struggling to get Ie9 working for months !! MSFT Knowledge Bases were ZERO help. Registry cleaners did nothing !! MANY MANY thanks !!! I was about to re-install from scratch. I owe you several beers !
Added at: 2011-11-10 23:26

Comment of :
Brilliant! Thanks for your great rereg script which restored my IE8 Tabs which were no longer showing the 3 options for Reopen closed Tabs, Browse with InPrivate, Use an Accelerator....must keep off the Registry Cleaner! Thanks again, yours aye, Tim (running IE8/XP/32bit)PS. Pity it took 4hrs to find you!!!
Added at: 2011-10-27 01:24

Comment of :
Hi, Thanks for your regisrtry fixes for IE8, which by the way worked perfectly for me to fix the same sympthomas in IE9.
Added at: 2011-09-26 15:16

Comment of :
Does this Script work on a Windows 2008 r2 Terminal Server? and a Windows 2003 r2 Terminal Server? Thank for any reply you can offer.
Added at: 2011-09-16 16:14

Comment of :
Thanks. Now I know that IE's registry can be attacked by another program :)
Added at: 2011-09-08 13:23

Comment of :
Hi! I tried running this script as admin in Win 7 and got the following message: Detected Windows 7 registering IE files registering system fles not necessary to correct bugs in the registry all tasks have been finished Yet my new tabs still don't work. Any ideas for me?
Added at: 2011-07-19 22:25

Comment of :
dude you saved my day. hell with microsoft fixit your this DID WORK for my broken IE9. Thank you Sir
Added at: 2011-07-19 02:02

Comment of :
This worked as advertised and cleared up several problems with IE: dead links links not opening in new tab javascript interface not supported I had to reboot after running the script. THANK YOU!
Added at: 2011-07-11 17:14

Comment of :
I just installed IE9 (dutch), and the open-in-new-tab-function didn't work as it should (it opened empty tabs). Nothing helped, Microsoft solutions didn't solve it. But this script did. Great work, thanks!
Added at: 2011-06-21 09:54

Comment of :
Everything was wrong with IE 8 IE 9 installing. This helped SUPER!!!!
Added at: 2011-06-07 21:56

Comment of :
Great work! Made my day =) Thanks!
Added at: 2011-05-03 16:01

Comment of :
Windows 7 32-bit, IE8 top bar would randomly flash/flicker, script errors when printing ieframe.dll/preview.js, could not switch between tabs, this fixed it all! Kudos to the author!
Added at: 2011-04-14 21:27

Comment of :
Absolutely wonderful This .cmd just fixed the following for me : IE New tab problem (Keep loading) Devices and printers (Empty) Open folders in same window Had to reboot after the fix has been applied for everything to work. Thank you so much
Added at: 2011-04-06 22:47

Comment of :
Tanks for your help. My problem is fixed on IE 32 bits on SO 64 bits. Congratulations.
Added at: 2011-03-30 22:01

Comment of :
Thanks! I had been searching the Internet for hours to find something that would work to get Win/IE8 to open links in new windows or tabs. This worked!
Added at: 2011-03-30 18:54

Comment of :
A life saver. Fixed my script error when nothing else would!
Added at: 2011-03-17 16:49

Comment of :
Hi, I've downloaded "ie8-rereg.zip" but there are five *.cmd files in it. Which should I run? "ie8-rereg.cmd" or "ie8-rereg-1.07.cmd" or all of them and in what order? Please help me, Thank You
Added at: 2011-03-16 17:17

Comment of :
Hi, I have the problem with the printing in IE8. I ran your script and now, for the local administrator, it works fine. The problem is, that we have a win2008 R2 Terminal Server farm and the app data folders (and mostly all of the user profiles) are redirected. The thing is...as local administrator it works fine, but the normal users still get the white page at print preview.
Added at: 2011-03-08 21:56

Comment of :
Thanks for the reply, unable to respond through email with an error 554 transaction failed when responding to [email protected]... Good afternoon. I ran the script several times (with IEx8 open, closed and after reboot without starting IEx8 and still had the issue of the error in the running of the script and still with the error in IE8 I was experiencing in the first place). ONLY when I had reset the permissions on the registry did the script run fully, which solved the issue I was having with IE8 As stated in my response through your website, the setup was a laptop with windows 7 home premium (32bit) with IEx8 and the issue was anything opened in a new window would not load with the "egg timer" just constantly being shown. Initially spotted by the user in Exchange 2007 OWA, but I found it to be the case on all website (including your own) You say in your response that the failure in Win7 is with the fix to shdocvw.dll, which is not what my fix related to at all. My fix related to the registry fix in HKCL etc
Added at: 2011-03-01 15:44

Comment of :
RE the ERROR: Access is denied... I had issues on win7HomePrem with new tabs or new windows being blank and unable to load anything... Downloaded ie8-rereg and ran it but got the error as per Wendy. I REMed the echo off and found that the line that was causing the issue was the reg add to HKCR at the very end The workaround for this is as below Log in as an administrative user hold the windows key and press R In the run box type regedit and press enter This opens registry editor In the left hand pane go right up to the top (CTRL + Home will do this) Open HKEY_Classes_Root Open TypeLib Open the line that starts {EAB22AC0... Open 1.1 Open 0 Right click win32 Select Permissions Click Advanced Select the Owner tab Select Administrators Click Apply Click OK then OK Close regedit Run the fix as normal It should now work...
Added at: 2011-03-01 14:37

Comment of :
At last something works; have fixed the 'non-working tabs problem', thanks. A Note: you must reboot before running the script, and don't run IE until after running script.
Added at: 2011-02-23 23:53

Comment of :
Hello, Thanks for the fix, It solved the problem " Installed Printers not able to see in devices & drivers in windows 7".
Added at: 2011-01-31 13:35

Comment of :
Thank You!!! Bless you, Kai! Thanks to a runaway registry cleaner, I lost IE 8's ability to display many parts of web pages, dead hyperlinks, Windows Help, and Windows Search. I reset IE8 (Win XP SP3) to factory settings. No help. I uninstalled IE 8 and IE 7, back to IE 6, then reinstalled IE 8 with all its updates. No help. I found your site (Divine guidance? ;>) ), downloaded your ie8-rereg.zip, followed your instructions, and all my problems cleared up! Even after a restart, everything is still working. Thanks again.
Added at: 2010-12-23 02:35

Comment of :
My IE8 registry appears to be corrupted. I have followed the instructions for resetting the files but with no success. If I cannot launch IE8, how can I run the script?
Added at: 2010-12-15 20:23

Comment of :
Fantastic - been looking for an answer to this for months. I upgraded to IE 9 (Beta) in the hope that it would be fixed but the issue persisted. Then I found your script - and it works on IE9. Wonderful and thanks again.
Added at: 2010-11-14 05:24

Comment of :
Thanks for the fix. Even though I too got the "Access is denied" message once I logged out , shutdown and restarted it fixed my problems. 1)New IE windows now open correctly 2)Print preview and print now work in IE (no script error) 3)Devices & Printers now show up 4)I can change my default printer
Added at: 2010-11-11 17:24

Comment of :
I ran ie8-rereg.32on64.zip and ie8-rereg.64on64.zip and it did not work. I have administraive access on windows 7 on a new Dell, 64-bit. Certain links just will not open ! Thanks for your help.
Added at: 2010-11-09 21:15

Comment of :
Thank you so much! I searched and searched for an answer to the IE 8 new window and tab problem, and now it's fixed!
Added at: 2010-11-09 03:44

Comment of :
This script worked for my window.open hang when hothing else did. Thanks so much!
Added at: 2010-10-29 21:05

Comment of :
Kai, thank you very very much. This has fixed a couple of problems for me with IE8 on Server 2008 R2 that had caused me a headache.
Added at: 2010-10-12 07:06

Comment of :
How will I run the cmd program in windows7 as it says 'access denied' after the program runs?
Added at: 2010-10-10 15:46

Comment of :
I've been trying to fix a error with IE 8 & javascript ("No such interface supported") and once I've registered the actxprxy.dll, I tried the same with "shdocvw.dll" but it fails ("shdocvw.dll was loaded but the dllregisterserver entry point..."). I've tried also to replace the dll but it doesn't work either. Any idea would be helpful, thanks :)
Added at: 2010-10-06 16:00

Comment of :
Same mesage as Wendy and Ross. "Registering IE files, registering system files, correcting bugs in the registry, ERROR: Access is denied..."
Added at: 2010-09-04 17:42

Comment of :
I also got the message 'Access is denied'. I need help.
Added at: 2010-08-26 01:52

Comment of :
Yes! I don't get what IE had to do with it, but now Devices & Printers shows stuff. Newly upgraded to Win7 from XP (64-bit) on Dell Precision M6400. Noted that IE icon never appeared, and D&P never found anything. Also note that this URL does not work in Chrome.
Added at: 2010-08-15 11:31

Comment of :
Thanks for this fix - absolutely awesome - I have been struggling with window.open for ages - now it works. It is so refreshing to see some advice about how to do or fix something, rather than the normal 'Doctor it hurts when I lift my arm. Well dont do it then' kind of rubbish so prevalent
Added at: 2010-08-10 08:48

Comment of :
Right On Man! Weeks trying to figure this out and your script did the trick. ONE NOTE
Added at: 2010-08-09 22:48

Comment of :
Very, very thanks!!!
Added at: 2010-07-16 13:19

Comment of :
I had it say Error Access is denied also. And I was on XP. So I went to control panel then RIGHT click on add remove programs and selected run as and I ran as administrator. Then on the left side selected add New program. Then go to the folder were the cmd file is stored. If your on VISTA or WIN7 you will want to right click on the file itself and go run as administrator.
Added at: 2010-07-14 20:52

Comment of :
Getting the same ACCESS IS DENIED error as Ross and Wendy :(
Added at: 2010-06-30 12:03

Comment of :
No, you don't have to run it daily, just once. Unless there's a software instaleld that corrupts these settings daily. Then better find that software.
Added at: 2010-06-30 10:17

Comment of :
Hello, Thanks for the fix, I have a question do I need to launch the cmd on every reboot ? I am asking this as I used to have script error when printing invoices on my job, so I want to be sure there is no issues. I am therefore launching the patche every morning, Thanks for your input
Added at: 2010-06-18 08:08

Comment of :
I got the same message as Wendy. Can anyone tell me how to get access?
Added at: 2010-06-14 07:02

Comment of :
I ran it and it said: registering IE files, registering system files, correcting bugs in the registry, ERROR: Access is denied. all tasks have been finisted Press any key to continue... I pressed the space key, the cmd window closed and IE still doesn't work.
Added at: 2010-06-13 03:38

Comment of :
Thanks a million. The damn thing works again. I would not give a shit about ie normally but some TV plugins don't work in other browsers. Tried a ton of fixes and only yours worked on W7 x64 and fixed the 32 bit version. Thanks again.
Added at: 2010-05-18 21:46

Comment of :
This script may not be able to fix all issues, but it certainly helped me to solve what was turning into a wild goose chase of weird issues with IE 8 / Win 7... thanks much.
Added at: 2010-04-28 22:23

Comment of :
IE9 never worked. I have Win7, 32 bits. Tried every advise on internet, without result. Till I found this fix. Miraculous!!
Added at: 2012-02-28 18:55

Comment of :
How convenient. you cant open link to new window because the window does not load. And then you find this site which fixes it (allegedly), but you cant download the file because it's actually a link that opens to a new window, which is the PROBLEM.
Added at: 2012-03-01 15:06

Comment of :
Two months wasted with winseven forum microsoft and all others. Thank you
Added at: 2012-03-03 07:48

Comment of :
Great fix, worked on IE9@Win7 32 bit like a charm! Thanks.
Added at: 2012-03-26 11:18

Comment of :
Thank you so much for fixing this frustrating problem!
Added at: 2012-04-06 06:50

Comment of :
You are AMAZING ! 2 months of knocking my head against the wall.... problem dissapeared. REMEMBER folks right click and RUN AS ADMINISTRATOR ! the only fix that worked for me
Added at: 2011-12-23 18:35

Comment of :
Hello Sorry my bad English, comes from Denmark. (Long live google translate):) Would like to thank for the good program I found in here it solved my problem with IE9 could not open a new tab when I clicked on a link. Greetings Danni
Added at: 2011-12-27 15:58

Comment of :
Great work, sirs. Thank you. I can tell by reading the responses that this has been a problem for quite a while. MS Answers Forum directed me to this page, so I want to thank them, too.
Added at: 2012-01-23 17:58

Comment of :
I applied th 64 bit fix and it seemed to work temporarily, but after a reboot the all problem was back. Do i keep applying this fix?
Added at: 2012-04-15 20:37

Comment of :
No. You want to identify the program that makes the settings go away on a reboot. Hint: it's not IE.
Added at: 2012-04-15 21:00

Comment of :
Will this be applied to IE 11 running windows 7 64 bit My IE crashes when it to trying access 32 bit IE from a 64 bit IE frame process
Added at: 2015-11-20 21:56

Comment of :
Thank you!! god.. You're a genius!! oh my god..
Added at: 2012-05-05 00:09

Comment of :
It's work fantastico thanks, Windows Media Playe,Internet Explorer was stop working for over 6 months, now everything is back to normal thanks a lot......
Added at: 2012-05-31 04:06

Comment of :
Since a W7 upgrade my IE8 browser or tab automatically closed after downloading from a link. Annoying! But not anymore! Thanks!
Added at: 2012-06-15 16:13

Comment of :
Thanks! This fixed the preview.js error when printing. I used ie8-rereg.64on64.zip on Windows 7 64 bit with IE9.
Added at: 2012-06-26 22:14

Comment of :
This little script worked!!! I thought I was infected with some mysterious piece of malware but it looks like IE8 was simply jacked up. I would click on a link in Google or some other site and the new tab would appear but no connection to the link. When I would close IE8 and go to the Task Manager, I would have 4 or 5 instances of iexplore.exe still running. I would assume those tabs were still running even though I had closed them before closing IE8. At any rate this script fixed the issue!!! When I close IE8 no more instances of iexplore.exe. Thank you soooooo VERY much!!!
Added at: 2012-07-06 00:57

Comment of :
I there a tool for IE9 Have sued tge IE8 toold with no effect ... the hyperlinks to open a new tab just dont work
Added at: 2012-07-12 13:55

Comment of :
My problem was, can't open IE8 32bits tabs.Many thanks - all turned!
Added at: 2012-07-20 19:47

Comment of :
Thank you so much for this fix. I can't believe it worked. I searched high and low to fix my flash closing blank window IE. I am sure i tried at least 20 different fixes, including MSFIXITS, reg. files, changing registry settings manually, uninstalling and reinstalling. Your fix is the only one that works. Thanks again. brian
Added at: 2012-08-22 00:51

Comment of :
Had problems in Windows 7 32bit with empty DEVICESandPRINTERS - Script Error: Interfave not registered with "URL: res://ieframe.dll/preview.js" when trying to print from IE9 or print an email - also unable to uninstall the ASKtoolbar it kept saying IE9 was still open ::: this command script fixed the problems 100%. THANKS
Added at: 2012-09-03 14:21

Comment of :
Hi Kai, First I'd like to say AWESOME! This has helped us with an issue of a customer that we've spend hours on end on. I'll also say it in Hebrew: ???? ??? Tnx.
Added at: 2012-09-11 08:05

Comment of :
I ran the script in ie8-rereg.64on64.zip as I believe I have 64bit config. The script took a second or two to run and then just said press any key to continue. To see if things were any better I then tried to access the following - http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/help/internet-explorer/slow-five-tips-to-boost-performance but the same thing happened - the browser showed the i.e spin working and then stopped with "Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage" so it seems that I am stuck in no-person's land! Is there anything else I may try?
Added at: 2012-10-02 19:16

Comment of :
Just to let you know that this worked when a user's desktop web shortcuts wouldn't work. They would open IE with a tab stuck at "connecting...". All fixed thanks to this. Win7 - IE8 - x86
Added at: 2012-11-01 17:24

Comment of :
You are my savior today! Thanks so much! :-)
Added at: 2012-12-22 04:25

Comment of :
My goodness! thank you for this fix.
Added at: 2013-02-01 22:20

Comment of :
Well...i did the next procedure and now it´s fixed: Solution: Open registry editor and navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main, create a DWORD value, and name it TabProcGrowth. TabProcGrowth=0: Tabs will be created as threads(instead of processes) in the iexplore.exe process(only 1 process exist, thus no save path resets); TabProcGrowth=1: Tabs will be created as separate sub-processes according to different mandatory integrity levels; TabProcGrowth>1: Tabs will be created as separate sub-processes until the maximum number of tabs(specified by this value) is reached; No TabProcGrowth value: Default, amount of free physical memory will determine the number of sub-processes. I set it to 1 and is working after restarting IE.
Added at: 2013-02-18 15:01

Comment of :
along with these commands: regsvr32 ole32.dll regsvr32 oleaut32.dll regsvr32 actxprxy.dll regsvr32 jscript.dll ie8-rereg.64on64.cmd ie8-rereg.32on64.cmd fixed the print to xps "res://ieframe.dll/preview.js" error with IE8 on W7 x64 THANK YOU!
Added at: 2013-04-01 16:14

Comment of :
DUDE!!!! Thanks this glitch was preventing me from completing my timesheets for work. Thanks for helping me feed my family and paying my bills.lol No really this was great!!
Added at: 2013-07-30 05:29

Comment of :
Dears, Is the ie8-rereg.zip.all suitable for fixing IE10 (on Win7)also? Thank you in advance Peter
Added at: 2013-08-02 14:36

Comment of :
really really appreciate this one it's work even for XP SP3 !
Added at: 2013-12-09 11:58

Comment of :
Thanks so much, this sorted out the problem on IE9 for me. I had rolled back from IE10, trying to fix the issue.
Added at: 2013-09-05 11:00

Comment of :
Will this work for IE11? Win7Ultimate x64 here -- since the IE11 update installed, when I try to launch IE the window just flashes and goes away. I've reset advanced settings, uninstalled and reinstalled through the windows features dialog, but nothing has helped.
Added at: 2013-11-26 00:06

Comment of :
This is supposed to fix the problem where you can't open a page in a new tab. Guess what? The donwloads try to open in a new tab! D'oh!
Added at: 2013-12-16 17:38

Comment of :
I cannot tell you what a God Send this page has been for me. I have had the blank tab problem since IE7 and have looked for a solution ever since. Now I am on IE10 and finally a solution that actually works. Just amazing. Thank You , Thank You, Thank You.
Added at: 2013-12-18 22:53

Comment of :
Super, cela marche aussi avec IE11. Encore merci, cela vaut 5/5.
Added at: 2013-12-22 21:49

Comment of :
Excellent. After all else failed, numerous installs and uninstalls and reg cleans and other attempts to stop IE from crashing, this worked. Brilliant work mate.
Added at: 2014-06-05 07:19