IE toolbar show by default

Question

Hi, i have developed an internet explorer toolbar or BHO that i would like to be displayed by default after i install.

Currently after i install and register the toolbar it will available in IE but not shown by default. I have also noticed that if i manually show it and exit IE, the next time it will have remembered its shown status.

Unfortunately i cannot find in the registry where IE keeps these preferences and have even tried using regmon and registry diff tools but still am not sure.

Does anyone know how i can turn my toolbar on by default? is it a registry setting or something else?

Answer 1

Which did you actually build? A BHO, or a toolbar?

There is no supported way to use the registry to force a toolbar to visible; hacking the registry will be unreliable and can potentially cause crashes in future versions of IE.

The reliable solution is to provide a simple set of instructions that help show the user how to show your toolbar.

Alternatively, if you have both a BHO and an Explorer bar, you can use the ShowBrowserBar method (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa752100(VS.85).aspx) to show your Explorer bar.