Tools Menu Items

This tab displays third-party Tools menu items installed on your system.

What's A Tools Menu Item?

A tools menu item is an entry in the Internet Explorer Tools menu. The item can execute various actions, such as starting a program or showing/hiding an explorer bar.



Location

The menu items are stored in the registry under the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE or HKEY_CURRENT_USER \Software \Microsoft \Internet Explorer \Extensions


The Disable Action

The disable action moves the item's entry from the key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE or HKEY_CURRENT_USER \Software \Microsoft \Internet Explorer \Extensions to a temporary location.

You must restart Internet Explorer for the action to take effect.


The Delete Action

The delete action (depending on the selected options):

  • Deletes the item's entry from the key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE or HKEY_CURRENT_USER \Software \Microsoft \Internet Explorer \Extensions;
  • Deletes the file of the program or the COM object associated with the item;
  • Unregisters the COM object's DLL module associated with the item (if any).

You may need to close all Internet Explorer windows to delete the file associated with a menu item.
You must restart Internet Explorer for the action to take effect.

Properties


Name The item text.
CLSID The item's entry name under the Software \Microsoft \Internet Explorer \Extensions key.
Publisher The developer (a company or a person) of the file associated with the item.
Action The action executed when the item is clicked, can be one of the following values:
  • Call A COM Object;
  • Start A Program;
  • Show/Hide An Explorer Bar;
  • Execute A Script.
COM object CLSID Class identifier (globally unique identifier - GUID) of the COM object associated with the item.
Program ID Programmatic identifier - human-readable identifier of the COM object associated with the item.
File A full path to the file associated with the item. Depending on the item's action this can be:
  • A COM object's DLL module if the action is Call A COM Object;
  • An executable file if the action is Start A Program;
  • An Explorer Bar file if the action is Show/Hide An Explorer Bar;
  • A javascript/vbscript file (or a file that contains the script file as a resource) if the action is Execute A Script.
Script The script file (or a file that contains the script file as a resource) of the item.
File Version File version information. The information is retrieved from the file resources. Also includes product version information if it differs from the file version.
File Size File size in bytes.
File CRC32 Cyclic Redundancy Checksum (Check) of the file.
File MD5 Message Digest 5 of the file.
File Creation Date The date the file was created.
Location The location (registry or a folder) of the item.
Safe Indicates whether the item in a safe or in a blocked list. Yes - item is in a safe list. No - item is in a blocked list. N/A - items is not in a safe nor in a blocked list.
Status Indicates whether the item is enabled or disabled.

Tips and Tricks


  • Sometimes a Tools menu item and an IE Toolbar button can share the same entry under the Software \Microsoft \Internet Explorer \Extensions key. Therefore disabling or deleting the item can also affect the corresponding button;
  • Starting from Internet Explorer 6 XP SP2, you can manage Tools menu items right from Internet Explorer: from the main menu select Tools -> Internet Options, switch to the Programs tab, click Manage Add-ons...