IE8 black headers

[Henry]

I'm running a 2.7 GHz CUP, 2G RAM, WinXP Pro SP3

IE8 every once in a while has the headings turn black. That's a known
problem with it and I know how to change it back to what it should look like.

My question is, how do you stop it from changing to the black headers? It's
been doing it more often lately.

Thanks

Henry

 

[VanguardLH]

I'm running a 2.7 GHz CUP, 2G RAM, WinXP Pro SP3

IE8 every once in a while has the headings turn black. That's a known
problem with it ...

From what I've seen for posts about this problem, it's known problem
with themes in Windows XP and possibly not being properly applied to IE.

and I know how to change it back to what it should look like.

That depends on the cause which you don't mention or how you are fixing
the problem which you don't mention.

My question is, how do you stop it from changing to the black headers? It's
been doing it more often lately.

Could be you are using a theming manager, like WindowBlinds or
AlienGuise, and haven't yet excluded IE in its app list of where to
apply its themes. Could be you are using the old Classic theme included
in Windows or a 3rd party theme and haven't yet tried using one of the
newer themes included in Windows XP. Changing themes also resets the
custom color selections (and you may have picked or defined a color
scheme that is flawed). Did you enable High Contrast mode in the
Accessibility Options?

The problem still occur if you start IE in its no add-ons mode to
eliminate effects produced by all the add-ons you installed for IE?
Have you yet tried booting into Windows' safe mode (with networking) to
eliminate behavior changes caused by all the startup programs you load
when you startup Windows and login?

http://iecustomizer.com/Resources/Articles/BlackToolbars.aspx
See the "Replication" section.

 

[Henry]

That depends on the cause which you don't mention or how you are fixing
the problem which you don't mention.

I don't know the cause. That's what I'm asking help for.

Here's the fix, but it won't stay fixed.
=========================================================================
How to Fix or Disable the Black Tool Bar
By Dalton McVey, eHow Contributor
updated: May 10, 2010

Internet Explorer 8 suffers a glitch involving high-contrast themes for the
Windows desktop and other "theme-skinning" software. Themes change the way
components of the Windows operating system appears. When Internet Explorer 8
is installed for the first time, certain themes such as "Classic" can trigger
a defect in the browser which makes the toolbar and window frame appear to be
solid black. The glitch is only temporary and is removable by switching
themes.

1. Press "WIN" and "R" at the same time. Type "services.msc" into the
"Run" Dialog box and Press "Enter". Scroll down the list of services until
you see "Themes" service. Stop it by right-clicking it and selecting
"Stop". This forces the visual effects for Windows to be disabled
temporarily.

2. Close any Internet Explorer windows that may be open. In the "Services"
list, right- click "Themes" and select start. This will reset and re-
enable visual effects for the Windows operating system.

3. Right-click the desktop and select "Properties". In the "Properties"
dialog box, click the "Themes" tab if it is not selected. On the drop down
list, change the theme to an alternative item on the list. Click "Apply".
Once the theme has changed, click the drop down list again and change it
back to the original theme. Click "OK" to any open dialog boxes.

4. Open up Internet Explorer to test the browser. If the toolbar appears
normal, the issue has been resolved. If they still appear black, reboot
the computer and test Internet Explorer again.
============================================================================

Could be you are using a theming manager, like WindowBlinds or
AlienGuise, and haven't yet excluded IE in its app list of where to
apply its themes.

I'm not using any them manager

Could be you are using the old Classic theme included
in Windows

I'm using Windows Classic theme

Did you enable High Contrast mode in the
Accessibility Options?


No



The problem still occur if you start IE in its no add-ons mode to
eliminate effects produced by all the add-ons you installed for IE?
Have you yet tried booting into Windows' safe mode (with networking) to
eliminate behavior changes caused by all the startup programs you load
when you startup Windows and login?

I've done none of the above because IE8 doesn't do it all the time. I can't
make it do it on purpose.

 

[VanguardLH]

How to Fix or Disable the Black Tool Bar

1. Press "WIN" and "R" at the same time. Type "services.msc" into the
"Run" Dialog box and Press "Enter". Scroll down the list of services
until you see "Themes" service. Stop it by right-clicking it and
selecting "Stop". This forces the visual effects for Windows to be
disabled temporarily.

That merely stops and restarts the theme service to reassert its
coloring scheme.

I'm using Windows Classic theme

I don't recall if its the Classic theme that causes the problem or
switching to it resolves the problem. Probably the act of just
switching to a different theme causes all the object settings to be set
to a default and away from any customed or modified settings. So rather
than killing and restarting the theming service, you could switch away
and back to the Classic theme.

You should check the 3D Objects setting mentioned in the article that I
gave. Maybe it's getting changed. When the black menubar problem
reappears, check that setting.

 

[M.L.]

Here's the fix, but it won't stay fixed.
=========================================================================
How to Fix or Disable the Black Tool Bar
By Dalton McVey, eHow Contributor
updated: May 10, 2010

Internet Explorer 8 suffers a glitch involving high-contrast themes for the
Windows desktop and other "theme-skinning" software. Themes change the way
components of the Windows operating system appears. When Internet Explorer 8
is installed for the first time, certain themes such as "Classic" can trigger
a defect in the browser which makes the toolbar and window frame appear to be
solid black. The glitch is only temporary and is removable by switching
themes.

1. Press "WIN" and "R" at the same time. Type "services.msc" into the
"Run" Dialog box and Press "Enter". Scroll down the list of services until
you see "Themes" service. Stop it by right-clicking it and selecting
"Stop". This forces the visual effects for Windows to be disabled
temporarily.

2. Close any Internet Explorer windows that may be open. In the "Services"
list, right- click "Themes" and select start. This will reset and re-
enable visual effects for the Windows operating system.

3. Right-click the desktop and select "Properties". In the "Properties"
dialog box, click the "Themes" tab if it is not selected. On the drop down
list, change the theme to an alternative item on the list. Click "Apply".
Once the theme has changed, click the drop down list again and change it
back to the original theme. Click "OK" to any open dialog boxes.

4. Open up Internet Explorer to test the browser. If the toolbar appears
normal, the issue has been resolved. If they still appear black, reboot
the computer and test Internet Explorer again.
============================================================================

An alternative solution:

My Computer->Performance Options tab, select: "Use visual styles on
windows and buttons"