What follows is a lengthy excerpt of a problem caused by a BHO (Browser Helper
Object) distributed from Ziff Davis Publications and a possible solution that may give you more insight
in troubleshooting BHO problems.
ZDNet
Magic InstaFiller uses an Internet Explorer Browser Helper Object (also called
an IE BHO) to obtain information about the current form or forms being
displayed. A BHO is a Dynamic Link Library DLL, loaded by Internet Explorer
when the user launches the browser. You can have several BHOs on your system,
some installed automatically when you install software that interacts with
Internet Explorer. Most of the time, under IE 4.0, a failure in loading one BHO
does not adversely affect other BHOs (although it could occur). However, IE 5.0
seems to stop loading all other BHOs. Thus, you need to examine the registry
location where BHO data is stored and verify that the entries are correct. The
following instructions require using the Registry Editor. Please follow these
steps EXACTLY. You can severely affect the operation of the Windows Operating
System if you delete Registry Keys--this includes the possibility of making the
machine not bootable, or requiring the re-installation of Windows, and possibly
the loss of all data on your hard drives. DCI and the Program Author are not
responsible for any damage to users' machines due to working in the registry.
You should do this at your own risk. However, if steps are followed exactly,
there shouldn't be any problems at all. Follow these steps exactly and in order
to determine the Browser Helper Objects loaded on your machine: Close Internet
Explorer. If using Windows98, close Control Panel, Windows Explorer, and any
windows opened from clicking on "My Computer". Launch The Registry Editor by
clicking Start Run. Type the following: regedit. Double click on the following
Registry Keys appearing in the left-hand panel of the Registry Editor (You may
need to scroll to locate these keys; they aren't case sensitive):
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE | SOFTWARE | Microsoft | Windows | CurrentVersion | Explorer
| Browser Helper Objects. You will now see either one or more CLSID entries
(long series of numbers/letters). The ZDNet Magic InstaFiller BHO is:
{BC5C39A5-9F26-11D2-B776-004005429A8A}. To verify that another BHO is
conflicting with ZDNet Magic InstaFiller, do the following: a. Single click
(i.e. select) on where it says "Browser Helper Object" in the left pane. b.
Select the Menu item: Registry-Export Registry File c. In the "Export Registry
File" dialog box, make sure "Selected Branch" is selected d. Save the current
contents of "Browser Helper Objects" and all subkeys in a file on your local
hard drive, it will have an extension of .REG, for example save it as: C:\BHO_KEYS.REG
This is so that you can re-load these keys later. e. Click the Save Button f.
While Registry Editor is still open, Launch Windows Explorer to verify the file
has been saved. Close Windows Explorer. g. **IMPORTANT** In the Registry Editor,
MAKE SURE that what you have highlighted (i.e. selected) reads: "Browser Helper
Objects" and press the DELETE Key. This will delete "Browser Helper Objects" and
all its subkeys, including the Magic InstaFiller subkey mentioned above
{BC5C39A5-9F26-11D2-B776-004005429A8A}. h. Respond Yes to the prompt, and then
close the Registry Editor. ZDNet Magic InstaFiller will automatically re-insert
its own Registry Key when it's launched again. Launch Magic InstaFiller and IE
5.0 in the exact order specified below. This order is important for the first
time you use InstaFiller as the BHO Registry Key has to be created first. a.
Launch ZDNet Magic InstaFiller b. Launch Internet Explorer. You should now be
able to fill in Web Forms. If ZDNet Magic InstaFiller still doesn't work at this
point, you will need to go back to the Registry Editor and remove the Browser
Helper Objects subkeys one at a time--from top to bottom underneath "Browser
Help Objects." Do this by following steps 4a through 4h, but instead of deleting
the entire "Browser Help Objects" key and its subkeys, select and delete the
first (topmost) subkey under it as step 4a then follow through step 4h. Begin
with all steps again with the next subkey, and so on. Some other applications'
Browser Helper Objects registry keys will need to be re-established. To Re-load
their Registry keys, use Windows Explorer to locate the file you saved in step
4e and double click on it. It will automatically reload. Auto-reload of keys:
Save the BHO keys into a .REG file as mentioned in step 4d above. By double
clicking this file in Windows Explorer, the association of this file with the
Registry editor will automatically re-load all of the keys you have deleted. To
reload ZDNet's Magic InstaFiller registry BHO key, just launch the program and
its BHO key will be reloaded without having to double click in Windows Explorer.