Internet Explorer 8.0: View Source

IE8's View Source has changed, not found, or very slow start-up

Internet Explorer 8.0 has a built-in source viewer which has some handy features like syntax highlighting, word wrapping, and text size changing, among others. This tool sometimes get changed by installed programs or just malfunctions one day. Using System Restore is tricky since you don't know exactly when the tool got messed up, so you don't know what restore point to pick correctly. So if you don't want to use System Restore, you can opt the possible solutions below. You may want to check them first before picking the best remedy for you.

Solution 1: You must have an IE8 setup/installer with you, for this to work. You may download it from Microsoft's Internet Explorer 8 site, from Microsoft Dowload Center, from FileHippo's or other free download sites like MajorGeeks, AfterDawn, Softpedia, Brothersoft, etc. Run your setup/installer to re-install IE8 over an existing installation of it, then check if its source viewer is restored.

Solution 2: Simple, just purge IE8's browsing history. This should speed up the start-up of the tool. Often, massive accumulated cache files cause the tool to malfunction, lock up, and possibly prevent it from opening at all. Open IE8, click the Tools menu, then Internet Options. While inside Internet Options, click the Delete button, then select the options you want especially the Temporary Internet Files check box. Or... Close IE8 first if it is open, then run Windows' Disk Cleanup, choose the right drive (typically C:), then wait for it to finish its calculation. On Disk Cleanup tab, tick the Temporary Internet Files and the other boxes you like, then hit OK. Re-open IE8 and see if its View Source functionality is fixed.

Solution 3: Open IE8, click Tools menu, then Developer Tools, or just hit F12 on your keyboard. This should open the Developer Tools application. In there, click the File menu, then Customize Internet Explorer View Source, then choose Default Viewer. There you can also select Notepad or a third-party program as your viewer. Exit and re-open IE8 to check if the original View Source functionality is returned.

Solution 4: If the above methods still don't work, you may have to work with the Registry Editor. Click START button, then Run, type Regedit.exe or Regedt32.exe, then hit OK or just press Enter. Inside of Registry Editor, navigate through the left panel by clicking the following keys (folder icons) in order shown below. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft Internet Explorer View Source Editor Editor Name Should look like this on the status bar: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\View Source Editor\Editor Name When you are finally inside of Editor Name, double-click the (Default) entry on the right panel of the editor, then delete its value. This should be enough to restore the default source viewer of IE8. Or, if you feel mean enough, delete the whole View Source Editor key (which includes the Editor Name subkey) for good. Also, you may want to input a value like Notepad.exe if you want it as your viewer (older IE versions use Notepad), or a 3rd-party free text/code editor like PSPad, jEdit, SciTE, Crimson Editor, Notepad++ and XPad by typing the full path (where you installed it). Below is a sample image of Registry Editor with the View Source Editor subkey, click to enlarge.