Cannot View Internet Properties or Options

ID: Q172761

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Internet Explorer versions 3.0, 3.01, 3.02, 4.0, 4.01, 5 for Windows 95
Microsoft Internet Explorer versions 3.0, 3.01, 3.02, 4.0, 4.01, 5 for Windows NT 4.0
Microsoft Windows 98
Microsoft Internet Explorer version 5 for Windows 98

SYMPTOMS

When you are running Internet Explorer, or after you remove Internet Explorer, any of the following symptoms may occur:

The Internet icon may not be present in Control Panel.

You may not be able to access the properties for the Internet icon on the desktop.

When you are running Internet Explorer 3.0, 3.01, or 3.02 and you click Options on the View menu, nothing may happen.

CAUSE

These behaviors can occur if an incorrect version of the Inetcpl.cpl file is installed on your computer.

RESOLUTION

Windows 95, Windows NT 4.0

To resolve this issue, follow these steps:

Delete the Inetcpl.cpl file in the Windows\System folder. For information about how to delete a file, click Start, click Help, click the Index tab, type "deleting" (without quotation marks), and then double-click the "Deleting files or folders" topic.

Install (or reinstall) Internet Explorer. To obtain the latest version of Internet Explorer, visit the following Microsoft Web site: http://www.microsoft.com/ie/download/

Windows 98

Extract a new copy of the Inetcpl.cpl file. For information about how to extract a file, see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: How to Extract Original Compressed Windows Files

Additional query words: 3.00 4.00


Keywords          : kbsetup msiew95 
Version           : WINDOWS:3.0,3.01,3.02,4.0,4.01,5
Platform          : WINDOWS 
Issue type        : kbprb

Last Reviewed: March 20, 1999