How to fix runonce.msn.com runonce2.aspx error in IE7

Posted on February 21, 2008 at 6:12 am

Make sure to read other posts from the Fix Windows Errors series!

I just ran across another great Microsoft error that should never have occurred because it’s really not a needed feature! New to IE7 is the RunOnce screen that tries to get users to customize their settings, such as which language you want to use and if you want to join the Customer Experience program, etc, before starting to use IE7 for browsing.

If you’re going to add silly stuff like this in IE7 as the FIRST thing everyone in the world sees when they start up their browser, you should at least make sure it WORKS all the time! Sadly, it does not, as I just figured out. Here’s some issues you can end up having with it:

After you choose your settings and save, the next time you open IE7, you get the same runonce.msn.com/runonce2.aspx page!
You get just a blank blue screen with nothing to configure!

There are several ways you can get rid of or remove the runonce page from IE 7 and I’ll step through those now.

IE7 Runonce Remover

If you’re looking for a super easy way to remove the runonce page, you can download a nifty little program that someone wrote up to do just that!

IE7 Runonce Remover 1..0.5 is completely free and is only needed for systems where you can’t get rid of the Runonce page! Only download if you’re having the two problems mentioned above, otherwise it will only run once like it’s supposed to and you don’t need this!

Edit registry key to disable runonce from running

If the above method does not get the job done for you, then you can try editing a registry key to basically manually tell Windows that the runonce page has already been completed and that it should not load.

Click Start > Run and type in the text box:
regedit
Click OK.
On the left hand side pane, navigate to the following registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main
In the right hand side pane, right-click on RunOnceHasShown and change the value to 1
Close Regedit and then restart Internet Explorer 7

If you’re not inclined to edit the registry yourself, you can prevent IE from going to the runonce page by running a script that does the steps above automatically for you. You can download the script here. Note that it will update the registry automatically, so you should perform a backup of your registry before doing this just in case.

Edit local security policy to prevent runonce loading

There’s one other method you can try out if the first method did not work and the second one was too scary and that is to edit the local security policy on your computer.

Click Start > Run and type in the text box:
gpedit.msc
Click OK.
Using the left hand side pane, navigate as shown below:
User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Internet Explorer
In the right hand side pane double-click on Prevent performance of First Run Customize settings
Moding the setting for Prevent performance of First Run Customize settings to Enabled and change the value in the drop-down box to Go directly to home page
Click OK and close Group Policy
Restart Internet Explorer 7

Hopefully one of these three methods will fix your runonce error and get IE7 loading directory to your home page! If you have a question, post a comment!

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» Filed Under Computer Tips

Comments

34 Responses to “How to fix runonce.msn.com runonce2.aspx error in IE7”

Joe H said on : March 17th, 2008 at 9:43 am

Thanks for the runonce info that was very helpful

Brenda Strealy said on : March 17th, 2008 at 2:27 pm

I tried running the RunOnce program, but it did not work for me. That darn page is still there every time I try to go to my homepage. My computer was running fine, then all of a sudden I had msn for my homepage, which I’ve never used, and this runonce page in front of it. Can’t get rid of either one of them. I am using the free aol homepage,or I was. Tried doing the regedit change, but once I got as far as Internet Exp.there was no subtitle of Main. So I looked through every thing under Microsoft, still didn’t find RunOnceHasShownin the rt. side pane. Any suggestions?

akishore said on : March 18th, 2008 at 10:52 am

Brenda, are you using IE inside the AOL program or is it running as it’s own separate application? Basically, do you use the AOL program to connect to the Internet?

Jabes said on : May 14th, 2008 at 8:44 am

thanks it fixed my problem

Aaron said on : May 23rd, 2008 at 7:21 am

I went into regedit and the value for RunOunceHasShown was already 1…

Bill said on : May 30th, 2008 at 7:54 am

Edit local security policy to prevent runonce loading WORKED FOR ME! Thanks

Trevor M said on : July 1st, 2008 at 8:05 am

I have just syspreped 11 Vista x64 PCs only to find IE wants to do a runonce. Used your 3rd method. Spot on. thanks. even our support guys did not know this one.

pyott callahan said on : August 2nd, 2008 at 6:53 pm

Editing local security policy worked for me.Thank You !

P said on : August 16th, 2008 at 12:13 pm

Just use this URL

http://runonce.msn.com/runonce3.aspx

Jeffrey said on : August 27th, 2008 at 7:08 am

Here’s another option to “remove” the runonce page. The original link is http://runonce.msn.com/runonce2.aspx which doesn’t work at the moment (28th August 2008). If you change the “2″ in the link into a “3″, you will see the normal runonce page. Copy paste this link: http://runonce.msn.com/runonce3.aspx in your EI7 browser and it works as it should be. No other programs are needed in this case.

John said on : September 4th, 2008 at 6:52 pm

I had reformatted my computer the other day; sadly; I HAD to install SP3 , no go arounds… Anyone else have this problem? And, if so, what was the cure you used. Thank you!

ejpro said on : September 26th, 2008 at 7:49 pm

Click Start > Run and type in the text box:
gpedit.msc
Click OK.
Using the left hand side pane, navigate as shown below:
User Configuration
> Administrative Templates
> Windows Components
> Internet Explorer
In the right hand side pane double-click on Prevent performance of First Run Customize settings
Moding the setting for Prevent performance of First Run Customize settings to Enabled and change the value in the drop-down box to Go directly to home page
Click OK and close Group Policy
Restart Internet Explorer 7

gpedit.msc worked perfect thank you!

Phil said on : September 30th, 2008 at 6:07 pm

Regedit – the key wasn’ even there… strange…. but gpedit.msc worked a treat – thanks

Rupa said on : October 22nd, 2008 at 6:21 am

Cool… thanks for the registry key settings. It worked fine! Am really happy to get rid of the settings screen

Aida Medina said on : January 2nd, 2009 at 9:45 pm

I had tried all three ways to get read of the IE7 Runonce page every time I open the computer without success. I do not get the tool bar either for Internet Explorer. I will appreciate any help, since am no expert on computers. Thanks
Aida

Aida Medina said on : January 3rd, 2009 at 9:49 pm

Am still getting the runonce page. I tried over and over to get rid of it and can’t do it. I look for all the information given the last ones I were not listed. I wonder if “RegcurePremium” is cost free and if it’s safe to download to be used? Have anyone using it and is satified? I will appreciate your help. Thank you.

Aida Medina said on : January 3rd, 2009 at 10:01 pm

I tried getting rid of the runonce with the suggestions, but part of the information given in the last steps were not in my computer information. Is there anyone that had used “Reg Cure Premium” fix program safe to be downloud? Are you satisfied with it if you are using it? I will appreciate your imput about it. Thank you.

Dave Barker said on : January 20th, 2009 at 4:48 am

gpedit.msc doesn’t do anything.
no such command on windows xp…..

‘windows cannot find gpedit.msc’ error.

Joan Green said on : February 6th, 2009 at 10:21 am

Editing my Group Policy worked. I can’t download any tools because of our internet policy, and there wasn’t an entry in my registry. But it worked. Thanks so much!

Ronnie said on : February 8th, 2009 at 7:55 pm

THANK You!! I have wasted hours trying to fix this..

Kathie said on : February 14th, 2009 at 12:43 am

Thanks for having the info about the RUNONCE, that is the worst thing to try to get rid of. Thanks! Kathie

Fred said on : March 9th, 2009 at 12:37 am

I was redirected here in e7:
http://runonce.msn.com/runonce3.aspx and it said there were errors on the status bar as soon as I selected something and it kept coming back to the same page after I tried to send the information and also every time I restarted ie7. My home page was set ok but I had to go through that stupid MS page every time I used ie7.

As suggested above at the specified location “HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main”, since it wasn’t there, I added a dword value “RunOnceHasShown” and set it to 1.
That worked perfectly! ie7 now goes to my home page on open. Thank You.

Chris said on : April 11th, 2009 at 1:41 pm

Neither of the manual suggestions worked for me (options 2 & 3), so I downloaded and ran the IE7 RunOnce Remover. This worked. I noticed that it added a value to the registry (at the path suggest in option 2), but the name is RunOnceComplete. The suggestion in option 2 states this name should be RunOnceHasShown. If trying option 2, try RunOnceComplete instead or add that value too. I’m using IE 7.0.5730.13.

Chris said on : April 11th, 2009 at 1:53 pm

A small correct to my comment: it seems as though both RunOnceComplete and RunOnceShown values are required. Deleting either of the values and keeping the other one (or having neither) results in the continual loading of the runonce page when starting IE7.

Yutian said on : May 18th, 2009 at 10:58 pm

The Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc) is only available in XP Pro, not XP Home.

Srikanth Kosigi said on : August 4th, 2009 at 2:45 pm

The gpedit.msc worked! Thanks!

Mahesh said on : August 20th, 2009 at 5:51 am

Thanks, you saved me from the frustration of this IE 7 defect.

diligentinquirer said on : September 10th, 2009 at 8:16 am

I could not the originally posted fixes, cause I run XPHome which has no gpedit.msc, and had no RunOnceHasShown in the stated location to change the value to 1, and after using the registry script three times the runonce problem came back to life. Did not use the free program.

What did work just great! was what “P” on post #9 said to do:

Just use this URL

http://runonce.msn.com/runonce3.aspx

Just past that url in the address bar, run it, and a fresh runonce window opens. I chose to keep my home page (google), then clicked settings. That stopped the problem right then and there cause the runonce objective was completed. Rebooted, and when opening IE7, the google home page came right up.

This is the easist and straight forward way ti fix this runonce problem.

I thank you “P”. Nobody seemed to listen to ya, but you were EXACTLY RIGHT.

Hope all future readers listen to “P” in post #9 above, instead of getting all tied into all these other “fixes”.

My Best, Diligent.

TR NIMADE said on : December 27th, 2009 at 8:55 am

my dear
diligentinquirer said on

Just paste that url in the address bar, run it, and a fresh runonce window opens. I chose to keep my home page (google), then clicked settings. That stopped the problem right then and there cause the runonce objective was completed. Rebooted, and when opening IE7, the google home page came right up.

This is the easist and straight forward way ti fix this runonce problem.

WHAT A SIMPLE SOLUTION. I HAVE SEARCHED AND SAT BEFORE MY COMPUTER 10 HOURS DAILY FOR THE LAST 10 DAYS TO REMOVE THIS STUPID LINK

http://runonce.msn.com/runonce3.aspx

WITHIN A MINUTE I SUCCEESFULLY GET RID OF THIS STUPID PROBLEM

VERY VERY THANKFUL TO diligentinquirer

Patricia said on : January 30th, 2010 at 6:43 pm

Thanks so much for that help, got rid of the runonce problem quickly-no fuss. thanks again

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