Appendix A: Troubleshooting

This section provides information about troubleshooting the deployment of Internet Explorer® 10 in a corporate environment. Troubleshooting topics are provided in the following areas:

  • Deployment issues

  • User issues

  • Common user questions

  • Additional resources

Deployment issues

The following are some common deployment-related issues that you might encounter in a corporate environment when you use the Internet Explorer Administration Kit 10 (IEAK 10), or when you deploy the customized Internet Explorer 10 packages that you created using IEAK 10.

For more information, see Internet Explorer Administration Kit (IEAK) Information and Downloads.

Unable to locate pages or features in the Internet Explorer Customization Wizard 10

Various IEAK 10 installation or configuration choices can prevent you from accessing certain pages in the Internet Explorer Customization Wizard 10.

To resolve this issue, try the following:

  • Make sure that you selected the correct version of IEAK 10 during installation (for most administrators, the internal version is correct).

  • On the Feature Selection page of the wizard, make sure that all the features you want to customize are selected. If a feature isn't selected, the feature-related pages in the Wizard won't appear.

Branding changes made through automatic configuration are not applied

Branding changes distributed to users' computers through automatic configuration are not applied if the Disable external branding of Internet Explorer policy is set in Group Policy on the users' computers. This policy prevents branding of Internet Explorer by a non-Microsoft company or entity such as an Internet service provider or Internet content provider.

For more information about automatic configuration, see Managing Browser Settings. For more information about Group Policy settings for Internet Explorer 10 in an Active Directory environment, see Managing Browser Settings with Group Policy Tools.

Internet Explorer Setup process fails

If Setup fails, you can troubleshoot errors by using the Setup log files:

  • IE10_main.log

  • IE10_NR_Setup.log

  • IE10_uninst.log

  • cbs*.log

  • WU_ IE10_LangPacks.log

When you install Internet Explorer 10, log files are created in the folder where Windows is installed (typically, the C:\Windows folder). The files document the entire process from the moment the setup program starts running until the last .cab file is downloaded.

As you go through setup, log entries are continually written to these files. Most log entries are also written to the registry. This data is recorded to assist with safe recovery.

The following table identifies common error codes:

Error Code Description

0

Success

1460

Timeout

3010

Success, reboot required

40001

USER_ERROR_CANNOT_OPEN_LOG_FILE

40003

USER_ERROR_CANNOT_INITIALIZE_APPLICATION

40004

USER_ERROR_OLD_OS_VERSION

40005

USER_ERROR_WRONG_PLATFORM

40006

USER_ERROR_BAD_SPVERSION

40007

USER_ERROR_MISSING_REQUIRED_PREREQUISITE

40008

USER_ERROR_IE_GREATERVERSION_INSTALLED

40010

USER_ERROR_BAD_LANGUAGE

40012

USER_ERROR_CRYPTO_VALIDATION_FAILED

40013

USER_ERROR_ALREADY_INSTALLED

40015

USER_ERROR_WRONG_OS

40016

USER_ERROR_EXTRACTION_FAILED

40019

USER_ERROR_WINDOWS_PRERELEASE_NOT_SUPPORTED

40021

USER_ERROR_UNSUPPORTED_VIDEO_HARDWARE

40022

USER_ERROR_UNSUPPORTED_VIDEO_DRIVER

40023

USER_ERROR_PREREQUISITE_INSTALL_FAILED

40024

USER_ERROR_NEUTRAL_CAB_DOWNLOAD_FAILED

40025

USER_ERROR_NEUTRAL_CAB_INSTALL_FAILED

41001

USER_ERROR_UNKNOWN

50005

USER_SUCCESS_USER_CANCELLED

Installation never completes

If the Windows Update installation of Internet Explorer 10 appears to stop responding, it may be because Windows Update is unable to install applicable updates for Internet Explorer 10 (for example, the Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool).

Group Policy settings

For an introduction to Group Policy settings that apply to Internet Explorer 10, as well as an overview of administrative tools to manage and troubleshoot Group Policy settings, see Managing Browser Settings with Group Policy Tools.

For a general Group Policy troubleshooting framework, see Group Policy Analysis and Troubleshooting Overview.

Internet Explorer 10 client issues

The following are topics related to troubleshooting features or behaviors of Internet Explorer 10 on your users' computers.

Resetting Internet Explorer 10 settings

If Internet Explorer 10 on a user's computer is in an unusable state, you can use the Reset Internet Explorer Settings (RIES) feature in Internet Explorer 10 to restore the default settings of many browser features, including:

  • Search scopes

  • Appearance settings

  • Toolbars

  • ActiveX® controls (reset to opt-in state, unless they are pre-approved)

  • Branding settings created by using IEAK 10

RIES disables all custom toolbars, browser extensions, and customizations that have been installed with Internet Explorer 10. To use any of these disabled customizations, you must selectively enable each customization through the Manage Add-ons dialog box.

RIES does not:

  • Clear the Favorites list.

  • Clear the RSS Feeds.

  • Clear the Web Slices.

  • Reset connection or proxy settings.

  • Affect Administrative Template Group Policy settings that you apply.

For more information about resetting Internet Explorer settings, see How to Reset Internet Explorer Settings.

Proxy server configuration issues

If your organization uses a proxy server on a local area network (LAN) to connect to the Internet, you may need to troubleshoot proxy server configurations in the browsers that you deploy to your users' computers.

Follow these steps to help you troubleshoot your proxy server configurations:

  1. Verify the proxy server address.

  2. Verify that automatic detection and automatic configuration are enabled within the browser.

  3. Verify that the browser is configured with the correct automatic configuration script address.

To verify your proxy server address in Internet Explorer 10

  1. On the Tools menu, click Internet Options, and then click the Connections tab.

  2. Click Settings or LAN Settings.

  3. Verify your proxy address in the dialog box. Click Advanced to verify the addresses if you configured multiple proxy servers.

If Internet Explorer 10 uses a proxy server for a local IP address (even if the Bypass Proxy Server for Local Addresses check box is selected), see Internet Explorer Uses Proxy Server for Local IP Address Even if the "Bypass Proxy Server for Local Addresses" Option Is Turned On.

To verify that automatic detection and automatic configuration are enabled

  1. On the Tools menu, click Internet Options, and then click the Connections tab.

  2. Click Settings or LAN Settings.

  3. In the Automatic configuration section of the dialog box, verify that the Automatically detect settings check box is selected. If you enabled automatic configuration, verify that the Use automatic configuration script check box is selected.

If you determine that automatic detection and automatic configuration are configured correctly and the proxy server detection still fails, click Detect my network settings in the Error dialog box to attempt the proxy server detection again.

To verify that the browser is configured with the correct automatic configuration script address

  1. On the Tools menu, click Internet Options, and then click the Connections tab.

  2. Click Settings or LAN Settings.

  3. In the Automatic configuration section of the dialog box, verify that the Use automatic configuration script check box is selected, and that the address is correct for your automatic configuration or automatic proxy URL.

Enhanced Protected Mode issues

Enhanced Protected Mode extends Protected Mode to further restrict the ability of an attacker to access sensitive or personal information in personal and corporate environments. If you decide to turn this feature on, your users might see errors requesting them to disable it, like This webpage wants to run "npctrl.dll. If you trust this site, you can disable Enhanced Protected Mode for this site to run the control. If your users click Disable, the feature is turned off for the single visit to the site. Once the user leaves the site, the feature is turned back on. The feature remains on for all other sites, even if the user selects to disable it for a single page.

To disable Enhanced Protected Mode for all users, you can turn off the feature in your company's Group Policy. For more information, see the Group Policy topics in this guide.

Note

For more information about Enhanced Protected Mode, see the Enhanced Protected Mode post on IEBlog, and both the Understanding Enhanced Protected Mode and the Enhanced Protected Mode and Local Files blog posts on IEInternals.

User issues

The following is a list of common user issues that may be raised at your IT helpdesk.

Installation issues

You may receive an error message when you try to install Internet Explorer 10. Problems with installing Internet Explorer 10 can be caused by different issues. There are several troubleshooting methods that you can use to try to resolve your problem.

  • Make sure minimum operating system requirements and prerequisites are met.

  • Make sure installation of other updates or restart is not pending.

  • Temporarily disable antispyware and antivirus software.

  • Try an alternative Internet Explorer 10 installer.

Uninstalling Internet Explorer 10

To uninstall Internet Explorer 10, you must be logged on to Windows as an administrator.

  1. Close all programs, click Start, and then click Control Panel.

  2. If in Category view, under Programs, click Uninstall a Program. If in Icon view, click Programs and Features.

  3. Click View Installed Updates.

  4. Find and click Windows Internet Explorer 10, and then click Uninstall.

  5. Click Yes if you receive a warning message.

Intranet site is not working as it did on previous versions

All intranet sites should open in Compatibility View by default, but this isn’t always the case.

To display intranet sites in Compatibility View

  1. Open Internet Explorer for the desktop.

  2. On the Tools menu, click Compatibility View settings.

  3. Select Display intranet sites in Compatibility View, and then click Close.

Where do I find security zone settings?

You can view your security settings from the Tools menu on Internet Explorer for the desktop. From the Security tab, you can determine the zone that is applied to the current webpage, as well as how the security level is defined for that zone.

Internet Explorer is crashing or slow after installation

If you install Internet Explorer 10 and notice that the system's CPU Usage is running at 100 percent, or higher than normal, an Internet Explorer plugin may be causing the issue. Similarly, if Internet Explorer or a web application is crashing or slow, it may be due to browser add-ons.

To troubleshoot browser add-on issues

  1. Start Internet Explorer 10 in No Add-ons mode by clicking Start, and then Run. In the Run dialog, type iexplore.exe -extoff.

  2. Verify if Internet Explorer still crashes.

    If the browser doesn't crash, open Internet Explorer 10, click the Tools menu, and then click Manage Add-ons.

  3. Click Toolbars and Extensions, click each toolbar or extension, and then click Disable to disable all browser extensions and toolbars.

  4. Restart Internet Explorer 10. Return to the Manage Add-Ons and enable each item, one-by-one. To do this, click the toolbar or extension and click Enable. This will help you identify the add-on that is causing Internet Explorer to crash.

    Once you have identified the add-on that is causing the crash, disable it until you have an update from the manufacturer.

Slow Performance in Internet Explorer 10

By default, Internet Explorer 10 uses graphics processing unit (GPU) rendering mode. However, some outdated video cards and video drivers don't support GPU hardware acceleration. If Internet Explorer 10 determines that your current video card or video driver doesn't support GPU hardware acceleration, it'll use Software Rendering mode.

To determine if Software Rendering mode is being used

  1. Open Internet Explorer for the desktop.

  2. On the Tools menu, click Internet Options.

  3. On the Advanced tab, locate the Accelerated graphics section.

  4. Verify that Use software rendering instead of GPU rendering is selected.

If this option is selected, Internet Explorer 10 is running in Software Rendering mode. If the option is greyed out, your current video card or video driver doesn't support GPU hardware acceleration. For more information, see Is Internet Explorer slow? 5 things to try.

Common user questions

This section includes common questions that end users might ask their IT Help desk.

Where are the favorites, command, and status bars?

The new browser layout is designed to provide just the controls that are needed to support essential navigation functionality (Back button, Forward button, an updated Address Bar, Home button, and Favorites). By default, there is only a streamlined Tools menu and tabs in a single row of the user interface. The Favorites Bar, Command Bar, Menu Bar, and Status Bar are hidden. This helps users focus more on the content of the webpage, rather than the browser itself. However, users and organizations can turn on these additional bars to customize the frame by using Group Policy settings.

When I go to an intranet site, I get redirected to search results. Why?

For domain-joined machines, a single word is treated as a search term instead of as an intranet site. In Internet Explorer 8, a single word was treated as an intranet site, and upon failure, the browser would resolve to the default search provider. This could take time and the result wasn’t always predictable.

To explicitly go to an intranet site (such as http://contoso/), users can type either the trailing slash character (“contoso/”) or the http:// prefix to trigger navigation. Internet Explorer 10 also checks if an intranet site is available in the single-word scenario, and offers matches through the Notification bar. If you select Yes from the Notification bar to navigate to the intranet site, Internet Explorer 10 associates that word with the site. The next time you type in the intranet site name, inline auto-complete will resolve to the intranet site address.

You can change this default behavior to look up intranet sites by default for the single-word entry in the address bar.

To enable an intranet search for single-word search entries

  1. Open Internet Explorer for the desktop.

  2. On the Tools menu, click Internet Options.

  3. Click Advanced tab, and then select Go to an intranet site for a single word entry in the address bar.

  4. Click Apply to save the setting.

For organizations that would like to have one-word searches default to search for an intranet site, administrators can enable the Go to an intranet site for a single word entry in the Address bar Group Policy. When this policy is enabled, a search for “contoso” triggers an intranet search for http://contoso.

Internet Explorer 10 uses the new One Box feature instead. This allows users to type search terms in the address bar, where any text in the address bar that does not appear to be a URL is sent to the currently selected search provider. Internet Explorer 10 starts with the default search provider, but if a user switches to a secondary provider, the search is performed with the selected provider.

Additional resources

For more information about troubleshooting specific Internet Explorer 10 features and behaviors, see the following resources: