Ever had a problem with always losing your status bar in IE6? I got tired of always  having to turn it back on, so I went on a search. I found a number of similar solutions to the problem. This one worked. From MVPS.org by way of KC Lemson:

If your status bar disappears when opening a new IE 6 browser window:

1. With (only one) IE open, click View, select: Status Bar
2. Right-click on IE's Toolbar and select: "Lock the Toolbar"
3. Hold down the Ctrl key and click the close button (upper right)
4. Open Windows Explorer, click View, select: Status Bar
5. Right-click on Explorer's Toolbar and select: "Lock the Toolbar"
6. Click Tools | Folder Options | View tab
7. Click the "Apply to all folders" button.
8. Hold down the Ctrl key and click the close button (upper right)
9. Open IE to any page, right-click on a link and select: "Open in New Window"

Verify that these Registry entries exist:

• HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main
  • "Show_StatusBar"="yes"
  • "Show_URLinStatusBar"="yes"