Sometimes, despite our best efforts, Internet Explorer (IE7, IE8 & IE9) reaches an unusable state due to spurious add-ons, incompatible browser extensions, spyware or malware. It either stops responding or even worse, it crashes, throwing errors which you never want to see like “Microsoft Internet Explorer has encountered a problem and needs to close” or “ “A Runtime Error has occurred. Do you wish to Debug?”. Whatever may be the cause of these errors, they are really annoying. Fortunately, Internet Explorer 7 and 7+ (IE8 & IE9) offers a one-button solution to get Internet Explorer settings to its workable state: Reset Internet Explorer Settings (RIES).

Note: By resetting Internet Explorer settings, you return it to the state it was in when it was first installed on your computer.  This is useful for troubleshooting problems that might be caused by settings that were changed after installation. When you restore Internet Explorer’s default settings, some webpages that rely on previously stored cookies, form data, passwords, or previously installed browser add-ons might not work correctly. Resetting Internet Explorer  to its default settings does not delete your favorites, feeds, and a few other personalized settings.

Here’s how to reset Internet Explorer (Version 7, 8, and 9) settings:

  • Run Internet Explorer
  • In the top menu, Click on Tools and then Internet Options.
  • Go to Advanced tab in the Internet Options.
  • Click on the Reset button available at the bottom of the window to reset your IE settings.

Reset Internet Explorer (7, 8, 9) Settings

After you click OK to close everything out, close IE; the settings will be restored the next time you launch IE. You can also do this from the Internet Options portion of the control panel.

If Reset Internet Explorer Settings still does help to your problem, then you may try the MicroSoft Fix it Solution which automatically diagnose and identify browser add-ons that may cause Internet Explorer to become unstable, to crash, or to stop responding. Browser add-ons may include tools, toolbars, assistants, and toys.