Error "Element not found" when attempting to add a Search Provider in Internet Explorer 7

Symptom

When you try to add a Search Provider in Internet Explorer 7, a script error occurs, and the provider is not added successfully. When you double-click the script error notification icon in the Internet Explorer Status bar, the following error message may be shown:

Line: 110
Char: 1
Error: Element not found
Code: 0
URL: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/searchguide/en-en/default.mspx

Also, when you try to create your own Search Provider, the following error message may appear:

Unable to add search provider. The Create Your
Own tool requires Internet Explorer 7. [32811]

Resolution

This problem may happen if you register shdocvw.dll after installing Internet Explorer 7. This is just another side-effect caused by the registration of shdocvw.dll in a system running Internet Explorer 7. For more information, see Why doesn't the "You've opened a new tab" message go away?

To fix the problem, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, Run and type Regedit.exe

2. Navigate to the following location:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \ TypeLib \ {EAB22AC0-30C1-11CF-A7EB-0000C05BAE0B} \ 1.1 \ 0 \ win32

3. Double-click (default) and set C:\WINDOWS\system32\ieframe.dll as its data.

4. Exit the Registry Editor.

Registry Fix

To automate the above steps, you can use the REG file (ie7tlbfix.reg) available under the Attachments section below.

Note: The above assumes that Windows is installed in the C:\ drive, and the REG file is hard coded for C:\. If you have Windows installed in a different drive, change the drive letter accordingly in the REG file. REG files can be opened using Notepad or any other plain text editor.