Ripped from newsgroup:
From: °Mike° (ZHNTPDWBLECA@fcnzzbgry.pbz)
Subject: Re: IE Status bar keeps disappearing :-(
Newsgroups: 24hoursupport.helpdesk
Date: 2003-10-13 10:41:12 PST
Open one IE window, and select View / Status Bar.
Right-click on the toolbar and select 'Lock the Toolbar'.
Close the window whilst holding the CTRL key.
Open Windows Explorer, and select View / Status Bar.
Right-click on the Toolbar and select 'Lock the Toolbar'.
Select Tools / Folder Options / View and press 'Apply to all folders'.
Close the window whilst holding the CTRL key.
Open your registry editor (Start / Run / regedit), and check
that the following entries exist:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER
+Software
+Microsoft
+Internet Explorer
+Main
In the right hand window:
Show_StatusBar - with a value of "yes"
Show_URLinStatusBar - with a value of "yes".