How to Determine if Active Desktop Is Installed

ID: Q216840

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Internet Explorer versions 4.0, 4.01, 4.01 Service Pack 1, 4.01 Service Pack 2, 5 for Windows 95
Microsoft Internet Explorer versions 4.01 Service Pack 2, 5 for Windows 98
Microsoft Internet Explorer versions 4.0, 4.01, 4.01 Service Pack 1, 4.01 Service Pack 2, 5 for Windows NT 4.0
Microsoft Windows 98

IMPORTANT: This article contains information about editing the registry. Before you edit the registry, make sure you understand how to restore it if a problem occurs. For information about how to do this, view the "Restoring the Registry" Help topic in Regedit.exe or the "Restoring a Registry Key" Help topic in Regedt32.exe.

SUMMARY

This article describes how to determine if Active Desktop is installed and if it is being displayed as a Web page. This information can be used if you are trying to programmatically determine if Active Desktop is installed on a computer. This information can be especially useful in some software rollout situations.

MORE INFORMATION

WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

For information about how to edit the registry, view the "Changing Keys and Values" Help topic in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) or the "Add and Delete Information in the Registry" and "Edit Registry Data" Help topics in Regedt32.exe. Note that you should back up the registry before you edit it. If you are running Windows NT, you should also update your Emergency Repair Disk (ERD).

Determining If Active Desktop Is Installed

To determine if Active Desktop is installed on your Windows 95-based computer, view the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\ {AEB6717E-7E19-11d0-97EE-00C04FD91972}\InProcserver32

If the default value is Shell32.dll, Active Desktop is installed. If the default value is Url.dll, Active Desktop is not installed.

Determining If Active Desktop Is Being Displayed as a Web Page

Windows 95 and Windows 98

To determine if Active Desktop is being displayed as a Web page, view the following registry key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer

Active Desktop is being displayed as a Web page if the ShellState value contains the following data value (in hexadecimal):


   1c,00,00,00,63,08,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,01,00,
      00,00,0a,00,00,00

Active Desktop is not being displayed as a Web page if the ShellState value contains the following data value (in hexadecimal):


   1c,00,00,00,23,08,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,01,00,00,
      00,0a,00,00,00

Windows NT 4.0

To determine if Active Desktop is being displayed as a Web page, view the following registry key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer

Active Desktop is being displayed as a Web page if the ShellState value contains the following data value (in hexadecimal):


   1c,00,00,00,13,08,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,01,00,00,
      00,0a,00,00,00

Active Desktop is not being displayed as a Web page if the ShellState value contains the following data value (in hexadecimal):


   1c,00,00,00,53,08,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,01,00,00,
      00,0a,00,00,00

Altername Method for Determining If Active Desktop Is Installed

Using Regedit, view the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components\{89820200-ECBD-11cf-8B85-00AA005B4395}

If the IsInstalled value is set to 1, Active Desktop is installed.

Additional query words:

Keywords : msiew95 msient win98 msiew98
Version : WINDOWS:4.0,4.01,4.01 Service Pack 1,4.01 Service Pack 2,5
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbhowto