IE Downloaded/Installed but doesn't show up

[ewormuth]

Please help save my marriage . . . I was cleaning up the computer of unused programs today and somehow managed to delete Internet Explorer, and my husband is not happy. I *know* I did not delete it directly. I have downloaded and installed IE7 twice, but no shortcut shows up on the desktop, and Internet Explorer is not listed under Start/All Programs. I went through the whole process; it told me Internet Explorer was successfully installed and to restart my computer, which I did (twice) . . . and no shortcut appeared.

I have an HP Pavilion, running Windows XP with Service Pack 2. I do see a folder that says "Internet Explorer" under Program Files, which includes the following folders: Connection Wizard, Custom, en-US, MUI, Plug-Ins, and Signup, with individual files below that: cutstat.dll, hmmapi.dll, iedw, and ieproxy.dll. I looked in all of the folders, and couldn't find anything that looked like the familiar IE symbol.

My husband doesn't want to use Firefox as I do; he wants IE back. Could I have deleted something that would cause it not to run or install correctly? I did take Windows Live off, I think -- would that have done it?

Any help will be gratefully appreciated.

[josefz]

Try next procedure to show MSIE icon on the desktop:
Right click on any open area of the Desktop
Click Properties, select the Desktop tab, then click Customize Desktop button
Select the General tab. In the Desktop Icons section, place or remove the checkmark next to Internet Explorer.
To finish the procedure, click OK button twice.

If thereinbefore does not work, try next:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre ntVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons]

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre ntVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\NewStartPanel]
"{208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D}"=dword:00000000
"{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}"=dword:00000000
"{450D8FBA-AD25-11D0-98A8-0800361B1103}"=dword:00000000
"{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}"=dword:00000000
"{871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30309D}"=dword:00000000

; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
; A value of 0x0 will show the icon, 0x1 will hide it.
; Network Places: {208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D}
; My Computer: {20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}
; My Documents: {450D8FBA-AD25-11D0-98A8-0800361B1103}
; Recycle Bin: {645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}
; Internet Explorer: {871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30309D}
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Copy above Code-wrapped text to notepad, save as "ie7.reg" (to assure that the file name + extension is ie7.reg, not ie7.reg.txt, save the file as "ie7.reg" including the quotes in the Save As dialog box).
Then double-click the ie7.reg file and select "yes" to the registry-add dialog. Refresh your desktop (Press F5), and you'll have the proper MSIE icon again.