How Browser Addons Affect your PC

Add-ons, also known as ActiveX controls, browser extensions, browser helper objects, or toolbars, can improve your experience on a website by providing multimedia or interactive content, such as animations. However, some add-ons can cause your computer to stop responding or display content that you don't want, such as pop-up ads.

If you suspect that browser add-ons are affecting your computer, you might want to disable all add-ons to see if that solves the problem.

Hide all To disable all add-ons temporarily

  • Click the Start button , click All Programs, click Accessories, click System Tools, and then click Internet Explorer (No Add-ons).

  • If disabling all add-ons solves the problem, you might want to use Manage Add-ons to disable all add-ons permanently and then turn on add-ons only as you need them. To disable an add-on, follow the steps below.


To disable add-ons by using Manage Add-ons

  1. Open Internet Explorer by clicking the Start button , and then clicking Internet Explorer.

  2. Do one of the following:

  3. •In Internet Explorer 8, click the Tools button, and then click Manage Add-ons.
    •In Internet Explorer 7, click the Tools button, point to Manage Add-ons, and then click Enable or Disable Add-ons.>
  4. Do one of the following:

  5. •In Internet Explorer 8, under Show, click All Add-ons.
    •In Internet Explorer 7, in the Show list, click Add-ons currently loaded in Internet Explorer.
  6. Click the add-on you want to disable, and then do one of the following:

  7. •In Internet Explorer 8, click Disable.

    •In Internet Explorer 7, under Settings, click Disable.

  8. Repeat step 4 for every add-on you want to disable. When you are finished, click Close in Internet Explorer 8, or click OK in Internet Explorer 7.
  9. Source: windows.microsoft.com