Spring Into Windows XP Service Pack 2

An Internet Explorer add-on is a little helper program that adds functionality. Most add-ons are helpful; some are a nuisance. And oftentimes, you have little control over which of these add-ons install and which do not.

For example, many add-ons install a toolbar that helps with Internet navigation. I don't need to visit Google to do a Google search, for example, or dictionary.com to look up a word like verbigerative (which I'm skirting dangerously close to being right now). Instead, I use one of my browser's toolbars, as shown in Figure 14-7.

But there's one I don't need or want: the NetZero toolbar, which installed automatically when I downloaded and installed the NetZero setup application.

Fortunately, I can easily remove this toolbar by managing my Internet Explorer add-ons. To do so, open an Internet Explorer window and choose Tools | Manage Add Ons… The interface here is fairly intuitive. Select an add-on and choose the disable radio button. The add-on's status shows as "Disabled," as you can see in Figure 14-8.

You will probably have to close and restart IE for the change to take effect. Note too that you can easily reverse the operation if results are not what you desirethat is, when a disabled add-on leads to loss of functionality.