HOWTO: Fix Windows Explorer After Installing Internet Explorer 8
I wrote an article about this problem a while back – but it seems that the fix is relevant to more than just 64-bit installs of Vista, so I thought I’d re-release it in the hope that it reaches and helps a few more people.
Unfortunately, it seems that installing Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) sometimes has some adverse affects on other applications. Here’s how to fix this.
The problems we’ve experienced following installation of IE8 have been:
- Windows Explorer opens folders in new windows, even if you have “Open each window in the same folder” checked;
- “Open in new tab” doesn’t work in IE8;
- Can’t connect to databases using SQL Management Studio Express 2008 (”Unable to cast COM object of type ‘System.__ComObject’ to interface type ‘Microsoft.VisualStudio.OLE.Interop.IServiceProvider’. Exception from HRESULT: 0×80004002 (E_NOINTERFACE)”).
The solution is pretty simple:
- Go to Start -> All Programs -> Accessories, right-click “Command Prompt”, and choose “Run as Administrator”.
- OK the user access warning dialogs.
- Enter “regsvr32 actxprxy.dll”.
- Reboot.
Simples! No more tearing my hair out.
