1. Quit Internet Explorer
2. Open Windows Explorer, select View>Folder Options to bring up the dialogue box below:
Click the View tab to bring up the dialogue box below and make sure you have selected “Show all files” as shown.
Click OK to exit the dialogue. Now highlight your hard drive (usually your “C Drive”). It may have a different name – that’s not important!:
On the menu, click Tools>Find>Files or Folders to bring up the dialogue box below. Enter “ratings.pol” in the “Named” box and check that the name of your hard (C) drive is shown in the bottom box. Finally, make sure “Include subfolders” is checked as shown:
Click the Find Now button and take a sip of coffee while Windows searches for the file(s).
You should only find one copy of this file in your WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory, but it is not uncommon to find multiple copies in different folders. When the search is over, click on the file(s) to highlight it/them and press your keyboard’s delete button. Say yes when asked whether you really want to send the file to the recycle bin!
This file will be regenerated when you next launch Internet Explorer. But one final check: look in C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM for another file called rsaci.rat. If it’s there, all well and good, if not, you can download a copy from FAQ 2.6 – this file is important, and is NOT regenerated!
Close Windows Explorer, launch Internet Explorer, and you will get the (perhaps rather too familiar error message:
Don’t panic, we’re almost there. On Internet Explorer’s menu bar, click Tools>Internet Options, and select the Content tab. You will see the dialogue box below.
Click the settings button and enter your password if prompted. Then click OK. This is the step which actually generates a fresh new (uncorrupted) ratings.pol file.
Now you can click Disable… and all should be well.