Put IE 7.0's Toolbar Back Where It Belongs

Executive Summary: Microsoft Internet Explorer 7.0 has a lot of new features and enhancements that people like. However, having the toolbar located above the menu bar isn't one of them for many people. If you don't like this new arrangement, you can put the toolbar back under the menu bar. All you have to do is add a new registry entry under the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Toolbar\WebBrowser key.

One of the hardest changes to get used to in Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) 7.0 is that the toolbar is located above the menu bar, as Figure 1 shows. Most people I spoke with dislike this arrangement so much that they use other browsers. However, you don’t have to go to that extreme. Instead, you can make a registry tweak that puts the menu bar back on top. Here are the steps:

1. Close out of IE 7.0.
2. Open the registry editor by selecting Run on the Start menu. In the Run dialog box, enter Regedit and click OK.
3. Navigate to the following registry key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Toolbar\WebBrowser.
4. Right-click somewhere in the right pane of the registry editor, select New, then choose DWORD Value.
5. Enter ITBAR7Position as the name.
6. Double-click that new value. In the Enter DWORD Value dialog box, enter the value of 1 in the Data value textbox and select the Decimal radio button. Click OK.
7. Close the registry editor.

Now if you open IE 7.0, you’ll find that the toolbar is back where it belongs, as Figure 2 shows.

—Alex J. Szmutko IV, Network Administrator, Midwest Heart Specialists