The toolbars in Internet Explorer have turned black. This doesn’t look too great, and also means that I cannot read the text on the toolbars. Can you advise how to return the toolbars to their normal appearance? The computer is running Windows XP.

Having the toolbars within Internet Explorer turn black is an issue which other users have experienced, but unfortunately there is not one single reason for this behaviour occurring. Therefore, we will need to work through some procedures to narrow down the root cause of the problem and implement a resolution. Before going any further it would be advisable to run Windows Update (by opening Internet Explorer and pointing it towards windowsupdate.microsoft.com) to ensure that you have the latest updates for your operating system and also the latest version of Internet Explorer installed, because if you are running an earlier version the problem may be fixed by downloading and installing the latest version.

Assuming that you have all the latest updates installed, together with the most recent version of Internet Explorer, yet the problem still occurs then we need to investigate whether this is caused by an Internet Explorer add-on that is incompatible with the version of Internet Explorer that you are running, or whether the add-on is simply misbehaving. To check whether this is the case we will disable all add-ons from running in Internet Explorer and then see whether the problem continues. Open Internet Explorer and go to the “Tools” menu > “Manage Add-ons”. Be aware, the menu bar in Internet Explorer may be hidden by default. Should this be the case, press the ALT key on the keyboard and this should make the menu bar visible, allowing you to open the Tools menu. In the Manage Add-ons window that appears, select the “Toolbars and Extensions” item on the left-hand side of the screen. In the right-hand pane all of the add-on toolbars and extensions for Internet Explorer will be displayed. If any add-ons are causing the black toolbars then the items listed in this section are the most likely culprits. Note down which add-ons are enabled (or it may be easier to note down those which are currently disabled), as you will need to use this list later to re-enable the disabled add-ons. When done, select all of the add-ons (by pressing CTRL-A, which is the Select All shortcut key) and then click the “Disable all” button in the bottom right-hand corner of the window. This will disable all of the Internet Explorer add-ons. Click the “Close” button to close the Manage Add-ons window and you should return to the main Internet Explorer window. Close Internet Explorer and then re-open Internet Explorer. As you have disabled the add-ons, Internet Explorer should now load without any add-ons.

If you find that the problem no longer occurs, then it is just a process of elimination to determine which of the add-ons is the problem. Return to the Manage Add-ons window and re-enable one of the add-ons which was previously enabled, by selecting the add-on in the list and then clicking the “Enable” button. Once this has been done close the Manage Add-ons window, restart Internet Explorer, and check whether the problem occurs. Keep repeating this process, enabling one add-on at a time, until the problem does occur. At that point you know that the most recently enabled add-on is the cause of the problem. You should now disable that problematic add-on and re-enable all of the other add-ons.

In the short term leaving the problematic add-on disabled is a viable solution, although you would likely want a more long-term solution. There are a few ways you can resolve the problem. First, the names of the add-ons in the Manage Add-ons window are pretty descriptive, so you should have a good idea of the purpose of the problematic add-on. I suggest that you do a search of Google to see whether anyone else has encountered this same problem, as it could be a known bug with a resolution (such as changing a particular setting, or downloading an update for the software). If this does not yield any success you should evaluate whether you actually need that add-on at all. Often when you install a program on the computer it may install an Internet Explorer add-on to provide additional functionality for that program through Internet Explorer. For example, many PDF readers install an Internet Explorer add-on allowing PDF files to be viewed within Internet Explorer, rather than having to download the PDF and then launch an external PDF viewing application to read the file. However, in some instances you may not actually need (or even want) that integrated Internet Explorer functionality. In this case, you could reasonably just leave the add-on disabled. Finally, if you determine that you don’t need the add-on, you should also evaluate whether you need the application which is associated with the add-on. Obviously if the application is something like a PDF reader then you likely will want that application, since you will need to read PDF files. However, in other cases you may not want the associated application (as it may have simply installed as an additional element of another software package). In this situation you could uninstall that software package from the “Add or Remove Programs” control panel which should also remove the add-on. Obviously though, you should only do this if you want to uninstall the entire application associated with the add-on. If you only want to prevent the add-on from loading then just leave the add-on disabled, as previously advised.

A second possible reason for the problem is that the window style and appearance configured within Windows is incorrect and thus conflicting with the toolbars within Internet Explorer. To rectify this problem you need to check (and potentially reset) the window style and appearance. Go to the “Start” menu > “Control Panel” and open the “Display” control panel (you may need to first select the “Appearance and Themes” category). In the Display window that appears, click the “Themes” tab. Ensure that the currently selected theme is “Windows XP”. Then, click the “Appearance” tab. Ensure that the “Windows and buttons” setting is “Windows XP style” and the “Color scheme” is “Default (blue)”. Click OK to save the changes and close. Check whether the problem is resolved in Internet Explorer.

If you do not have any luck resolving the issue then you should next update the graphics drivers on the computer. While this may seem like a relatively generic solution, Windows is becoming more and more reliant upon graphics and video cards for performance given the changes and improvements in the user interface of various applications. As such, having outdated graphics drivers has been known to cause strange display problems in programs including Internet Explorer. If you are unsure of the model of graphics card installed in your computer, open the Display control panel (as outlined previously in this column) and then select the “Settings” tab. Underneath the picture of the monitor you should see the model of your monitor and graphics card. With this information you should look up the website for the manufacturer of your graphics card then download and install the latest drivers. The installation package for most graphics drivers are generally straight-forward and should be installable by simply double-clicking on a setup file and the drivers should install. Once the installation has completed, restart the computer enabling the new drivers to fully load, and then check whether the problem continues.

Should you find that the problem continues after trying all the previous instructions, please contact me for further advice as it seems that the problem will require some additional investigation.