Every other web browser in existence including Internet Explorer 7 and earlier have been displaying the main command buttons on the left side of the address bar. While usability tests might have shown that this is the best display for the buttons it will confuse many users who are used to the standard display of address bar buttons.

Microsoft has thankfully included an option to move the Stop and Refresh buttons from the right side of the address bar to Internet Explorer’s left. This is done by right-clicking free space on the Internet Explorer 8 toolbar,e.g. on the right side of Help, and selecting Customize from the menu.

This will immediately display a menu with the option to show the stop and refresh buttons before the address bar. The two buttons will be moved immediately to the left side of the Internet Explorer 8 address bar.

Internet Explorer 8 Address Bar Before:

Internet Explorer 8 Address Bar After:

There is however no obvious way to move other buttons in the Internet Explorer 8 address bar at this point.

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The first one is the easiest to accomplish but its results are unfortunately only temporary. Start by moving a folder from the Windows Start Menu to the top of the desktop. If you do it right a new bar should appear on the top of the computer screen.

Right-click that bar and select Toolbars > Address which should add the entry Address at the right side of the bar. You can now access the address functionality there permanently or move the Address Bar back to the Windows Taskbar.

The problem here is that a reboot or log off will remove the address bar again. The advantage of this method is that it does not require the manipulation of system files.

The second option is to replace the browseui.dll file which handles the interface with a previous version that still included the Address Bar. This requires access to the Service Pack 2 version of browseui.dll.

The file is a system protected file which means that you need to replace it the following way:

• Reboot the computer
• Press F8 during boot process to load the advanced boot menu
• Select Safe Mode with Command Prompt
• type xcopy C:\browseui.dll C:\Windows\System32\ with c:\browseui.dll being the location of the SP2 version of browseui.dll

The Address entry should be visible again after rebooting the computer. The change is permanent with this method. There is however no guarantee that other features or functions that have been implemented in SP3 in the file continue to work after applying the change.

The third and probably best option is to install a third party address bar which does not tamper with system files. MuvEnum Address Bar provides access to a new address bar that makes use of an increased functionality such as multiple Internet search engines or access to history and bookmarks of multiple web browsers while retaining all the original features of the Windows XP Service Pack 2 Address Bar.

It can be selected as a Toolbar by right-clicking on the Windows Task Bar, moving to Toolbars and selecting MuvEnum Address Bar from the menu.

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