IE HTML file missing

  • Thread starter Thread starter Bear
  • Start date Start date
B

Bear

Hello
The problem I'm having is every time I change the desktop background I
get a message box that states The IE HTML file is missing. This file is
needed for Active desktop. To turn off Active desktop hit Enter. The box
comes up a least 3 times. All I have to do to get the desktop background
to show is refresh it. How do I recreate this file?

Later,
Bear

Beauty is in the eyes of the beer holder
 
Hello
The problem I'm having is every time I change the desktop background I
get a message box that states The IE HTML file is missing. This file is
needed for Active desktop. To turn off Active desktop hit Enter. The box
comes up a least 3 times. All I have to do to get the desktop background
to show is refresh it. How do I recreate this file?

Later,
Bear

Beauty is in the eyes of the beer holder
Click to expand...

It sounds like you're using a web customization.
Try right clicking desktop, choose Display. On the Desktop> Customize
Desktop screen, uncheck boxes for web items including "my home page."

Restart to see if the error message goes away.
 
I already tried that and the "my home page" was unchecked. That was the
only entry there. Just going to Display - Customize Desktop and then
exiting I get the error. Thanks for the reply.

Later,
Bear

Beauty is in the eyes of the beer holder
 
Hello
The problem I'm having is every time I change the desktop background I
get a message box that states The IE HTML file is missing. This file is
needed for Active desktop. To turn off Active desktop hit Enter. The box
comes up a least 3 times. All I have to do to get the desktop background
to show is refresh it. How do I recreate this file?

Later,
Bear

Beauty is in the eyes of the beer holder
Click to expand...

There's no need for you to recreate the file. The operating system should
be taking care of its creation and maintenance automatically.

Active Desktop is always enabled in XP- unless blocked by an administrator
in gpedit.msc. Check active desktop settings in this tool to see if it's
still enabled. NOTE: Does not apply to XP Home as the tool is only
available in XP Pro.

The web control in "customize desktop" allows you to add active content.
Recent malware has been adding "extras" to this list. Repair is usually
accomplished by using the display properties to remove unwanted visitors.
If a poorly designed removal tool is used instead, it could accidentally
damage the ability to add/remove web content.

Something is slightly broken on your setup. I'm not sure what since you are
able to get past the error message by simply pressing refresh.

The IE file involved is mshtml.dll. You could try deleting it from the
system32 folder. It is a protected file and as such, should be replaced
automatically with a fresh copy. After replacement, register the dll by
using Start> Run and typing in:
regsvr32 /i mshtml.dll

Reference for this suggestion is an article for an older version of IE but
the same principles apply: http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=193110

If still no luck and if you are using a browser other than IE, temporarily
reset IE as the default browser. Do this in Internet Options> Programs.
Click the "Reset Web Settings" button and check the box next to "Internet
Explorer should check that it is the default browser." Click OK. Close any
open browser windows and relaunch IE. Say "yes" to the default browser
prompt. Then repeat the registering of the mshtml.dll file.
 
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