Browser Helper Object

A Browser Helper Object (BHO) is a DLL module designed as a plugin for Microsoft's Internet Explorer web browser to provide added functionality. BHOs were introduced in October 1997 with the release of version 4 of Internet Explorer. Most BHOs are loaded once by each new instance of Internet Explorer. However, in the case of Windows Explorer, a new instance is launched for each window.

BHOs is still supported as of Windows 10, though Internet Explorer 11, while BHOs is not supported in their default web browser Microsoft Edge.

Each time a new instance of Internet Explorer starts, it checks the Windows Registry for the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Browser Helper Objects. If Internet Explorer finds this key in the registry, it looks for a CLSID key listed below the key. The CLSID keys under Browser Helper Objects tell the browser which BHOs to load. Removing the registry key prevents the BHO from being loaded. For each CLSID that is listed below the BHO key, Internet Explorer calls CoCreateInstance to start the instance of the BHO in the same process space as the browser. If the BHO is started and implements the IObjectWithSite interface, it can control and receive events from Internet Explorer. BHOs can be created in any language that supports COM.

Some modules enable the display of different file formats not ordinarily interpretable by the browser. The Adobe Acrobat plug-in that allows Internet Explorer users to read PDF files within their browser is a BHO.

Other modules add toolbars to Internet Explorer, such as the Alexa Toolbar that provides a list of web sites related to the one you are currently browsing, or the Google Toolbar that adds a toolbar with a Google search box to the browser user interface.

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