When Tweak-XP Pro, it gave you options to lock, restart, shutdown and tell your computer to sleep, all from desktop shortcuts. Using the new underlying open-ness of the code in Internet Explorer (techy’s, the function of API’s and things like that), you can have shortcuts on your desktop which do similar things like clearing your history and Temporary Internet Files.

1. Right click your desktop (or other folder where you want these shortcuts), and select New, then Shortcut.
2. For each shortcut that you want, copy and paste one of the following into the Location box you see.
• Clear Temporary Internet Files:
  RunDll32.exe InetCpl.cpl,ClearMyTracksByProcess 8
  
• Clear Cookies:
  RunDll32.exe InetCpl.cpl,ClearMyTracksByProcess 2
  
• Clear History:
  RunDll32.exe InetCpl.cpl,ClearMyTracksByProcess 1
  
• Clear Form Data:
  RunDll32.exe InetCpl.cpl,ClearMyTracksByProcess 16
  
• Clear Saved Passwords:
  RunDll32.exe InetCpl.cpl,ClearMyTracksByProcess 32
  
• Delete All:
  RunDll32.exe InetCpl.cpl,ClearMyTracksByProcess 255
  
• Delete All and Clear Add-ons Settings:
  RunDll32.exe InetCpl.cpl,ClearMyTracksByProcess 4351
  
3. Click Next, then enter the name of the shortcut accordingly (so you don’t forget what it does).
4. Click Finish.

You could drag and drop these onto your Quick Launch bar (just right of the Start menu), or even have them in your Startup folder, thus clearing all selected data when you first logon; after all, there’s nothing like starting fresh first time you login in the morning

Source: TweakVista

The one great thing about Windows Internet Explorer 7 is that it has tabs - which means that you no longer have loads of windows cluttering up your taskbar, leaving one single window open with all your different pages on. However, some people still think that pop-ups are a great thing, which their not. There’s a way to configure it so any popup you might get, can be opened into a new tab.

1. Open Internet Explorer.
2. Press Alt to see the menu bar if you can’t already see it, then hit Tools then Internet Options.
3. On the General tab, look for the Tabs section. Click Settings.
4. The second part of the new dialog, click the button that says "Always open pop-ups in a new tab".
5. Click OK, (if the Apply button is clickable, click this, don’t worry if it’s not) then OK again.

After this, popups will now open in new tabs, thus saving your taskbar from an IE-overload.

Internet Explorer 7 only allows you to download two files from the same server at a time.  This is not a software limit but rather a limit imposed based on the web standard. Since this is simply a software setting, it can be modified and you can increase the limit to something much high such as 10.  Follow the steps below to increase your maximum downloads from the same server:

1. Click on  Start and click Run (or press the Windows key + R) and type in regedit then press OK.
2. When Registry Editor loads navigate through
      HKEY_CURRENT_USER, Software, Microsoft, Windows, CurrentVersion and Internet Settings.
3. Right click on MaxConnectionsPerServer and select Modify. Set the decimal value to something greater than 2.
4. Right click on MaxConnectionsPer1_0Server and select Modify. Set the decimal value to something greater than 2.
5. Reboot the machine and next time you want to download more than 1 item, you can download more than the number you set in the Registry entry.

Source: TweakVista

Install this update to resolve an issue where an error message is displayed when you start Internet Explorer 7. After you install this item, you may have to restart your computer.

Update for Windows Vista (KB935855)
Update for Windows Vista for x64-based Systems (KB935855)

Thanks Bink.

Do you have a problem with certain websites loading very slowly? Google around a bit and you’ll find you’re not the only one. Microsoft’s new network stack has had a number of different problems, most of them caused by the rest of the world not being completely up-to-date with the latest standards (backwards compatibility, who needs it!). This problem is no exception.A recent Microsoft Knowledgebase article describes one potential cause of the problem: RFC 1323 compliance. Though the text suggests that it just affects the Enterprise version, the Applies To section lists all versions of Vista. In a nutshell, websites that don’t fully support RFC 1323 or the default Windows Scaling factor of 8 will be very slow or even unaccessible. There is a workaround!

1. Go to Start, type in cmd at the Search bar, then hold Ctrl+Shift and press Enter.
2. At the command prompt, type in and press Enter after each one:
   
   • netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=highlyrestricted
   • netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=normal 
   • netsh int tcp set global autotuninglevel=disable

3. Close the command prompt by typing exit then pressing the Enter key.

Internet Explorer 7 isn’t automatically placed on the desktop; this is because it is available in your Start menu and Vista is designed to be clean and fresh, and have little on the desktop except the most important things.

Simply go to  Start, and click and drag the Internet Explorer icon onto your desktop, then rename it to what you like.

In Windows XP SP2, Internet Explorer shows Windows Media Player in black. In Windows Vista, Internet Explorer shows Windows Media Player in white. There is no change in functionality or productivity - they are just different colours for different operating systems.

When Internet Explorer 7 runs in Protected Mode whilst UAC is on, anything to do with IE7 is essentially cut-off from the computer, so if a virus gets picked up then it can’t infest the rest of the machine or the user’s files. Microsoft created “integrity” which defines the permission levels of certain folders from the standard security layout. UAC runs on this premiss, by having to tell Internet Explorer that it’s allowed to write to a file or folder which has higher permissions.

Basically, sometimes because of this architectural structuring, the Favourites folder can’t be seen by IE7 which is why you can’t save, or sometimes see your Favourites. This article only relates to Windows Vista, as Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 isn’t affected by this.

1. Go to Start, Run then enter cmd, then hold down Ctrl+Shift and hit Enter.
2. Navigate to where your Favourites are. Do this in Windows Explorer first, once you have found it then click in the address bar and copy the address.
3. In the Command Prompt, type cd then right click at the prompt and press Paste, then press Enter. You should now be in the Favourites folder, except in a command prompt window.
4. Copy the bold statement here: icacls favorites /setintegritylevel (OI)(CI)low then using the same pasting method as above, paste into the command prompt and press Enter.
5. You should now close the command prompt and restart your machine, and your Favourites should have returned.

Source: Windows-Now

Some people have been having trouble with Internet Explorer 7’s phishing filter, causing it to slow down your browsing experience and even causing it to crash the browser. However Microsoft released a knowledge base article which might be of assistance, with a patch allowing you to upgrade the phishing filter so that it runs more effectively. Check out the knowledge base article here: KB 928089

To disable the phishing filter:

1. Start Internet Explorer.
2. On the Tools menu, click Internet Options.
3. Click the Advanced tab, and then click “Disable Phishing Filter in the Settings list”.
4. Click Apply, and then click OK.
5. Restart Internet Explorer 7.

If you have the Google Toolbar or the Windows Live Toolbar, you’ve already got a suitable search engine right from your toolbar so why bother with the search bar which is pre-installed into Internet Explorer 7? Well now you can get rid of it, and it’s really simple.

1. Go to Start and Run (or press Windows key + R) and type in regedit then press OK.
2. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER > Software > Policies > Microsoft and Internet Explorer. If there is no “Internet Explorer” entry, right click on “Microsoft” and select New > Key, then type in “Internet Explorer”.

3. Create a new key (as before) within the Internet Explorer key, and call this InfoDelivery.
4. Create a new key (as above) within the InfoDelivery key, and call this Restrictions.
5. Inside Restrictions, right click anywhere in the right hand side of the Registry Editor and create a new DWORD and call it NoSearchBox.
6. Double click on the new DWORD and set the value of NoSearchBox to 1.
7. Restart the computer.

Once you boot up Internet Explorer again, there will be no search box.

You can alter how Internet Explorer 7 acts using several command line prompts. These prompts are ways of “invoking” the application to do specific things when you first load it up.

To invoke, simply type the following in the Run command (Press Start then Run or press the Windows key + R)

Start Internet Explorer in kiosk mode: iexplore.exe -k then press Enter.
Start Internet Explorer without loading the homepage: iexplore.exe -nohome
Start Internet Explorer with a specific address: iexplore.exe www.websiteaddress.com
Start Internet Explorer  with no add-ons and toolbars: iexplore.exe -extoff

Well, it took me a good few hours to master… but I’ve finally got a demo up and running. The demo shows transparent PNG image files can be viewed and manipulated in Internet Explorer versions 5.5 and above. In Windows Internet Explorer 7, the support is “enhanced” and there are a number of transparency PNG fixes which help render the image files better.

 Some browsers may not work - anything above Internet Explorer 5.5 should work OK though.
 If you have a pop-up blocker, it may block these demonstrations. Please allow them through.
 The demo may take a minute to load on slower connections. 56k: 2 minutes, 2mb line: 20 seconds

		Enter the interactive Live Demo lab Click and drag the image round the page to see the transparency

		Enter the static Live Demo lab Static images only showing the overlay between multiple imagery

Once again, there’s been a name change for Windows Internet Explorer, scrapping the 7+ version for Windows Vista. So basically they’ll be now known as the following:

Windows Internet Explorer 7 for Windows XP
 Windows Internet Explorer 7 for Windows Server 2003
 Windows Internet Explorer 7 for Windows Server 2008
 Windows Internet Explorer 7 for Windows Vista

May be a bit of a mouthful but they can be shortened for blogs and so forth, to IE7 for XP and IE7 for Vista of course. Because of certain features that only appear in the Vista version such as Protected Mode then Microsoft will use the second example. If they want to talk about a feature which appears in both such as the Phishing Filter or the Feeds aggregator, then they’ll use “[Windows] Internet Explorer 7″ as the term.

Some websites still don’t take lightly to Internet Explorer 7 and simply don’t load up properly. One of them is my ISP’s website, which certainly causes some problems at times! So, here’s a simple way to make Internet Explorer 7 behave as if it’s Internet Explorer 6.

Make Internet Explorer 7 behave like Internet Explorer 6
 VistaBase certifies this registry entry as safe, but still cannot accept any responsibility for any damage that this may do to your machine.

 Undo any changes and turn Internet Explorer 7 into Internet Explorer 7 again
 VistaBase certifies this registry entry as safe, but still cannot accept any responsibility for any damage that this may do to your machine.

Each time you enter a registry key into your computer from above, you’ll need to restart your browser. Remember, the registry keys only change the way that the browser behaves, and not how it looks or performs.

The reason why Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 copies of Windows Internet Explorer 7 are branded as “Windows Internet Explorer 7” in the About dialog, whilst in Vista it is referred to as “Windows Internet Explorer 7+” is because of the main difference in the operating systems.

Vista has a core of security - I mean the whole thing is based on security and making everything incredibly secure. Having the 7+ identifies that the Vista copy of IE7 has extended features that integrate with the operating system itself, such as Parental Controls which restricts what specific users access, and Protected Mode which helps virtualise areas of the disk so that if anything harmful access the machine, then it won’t attack the computer.

So basically, the 7+ version is the Vista one and will harbour some of the core security features of the operating system, whilst 7 is just for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 which won’t be less secure in anyway and will still have all the same features as 7+ except not have the core operating system parts. Hope that makes sense!

Update for 4th August 2006
Even though Windows Internet Explorer 7 and Windows Internet Explorer 7+ were finalised names for the new web browser and although act differently under the two operating systems Windows XP and Windows Vista. However, the naming has changed once again, click here for an update.

The integrated Search bar in the top right hand corner of the Internet Explorer 7 browser window lets you search directly using any major search engine or major website. By default, MSN Search is set as the standard search toolbar engine, but Microsoft provides plenty of support to add your own search if you wish, and customise your search.

To add a search provider to the Search bar, simply click the  button next to the Search bar, then select Find More Providers and a new web page will open displaying a whole load of search providers that Microsoft is linking to. From that, simply select a search provider and it will ask you whether you want to add it to your list of search providers, and also if you want to set it as the default search engine.

Adding search providers is easy - you simply click the button, or to search using a provider, select one from the list.

 There is a demonstration relating to this article. Click here to view it.

Internet Explorer 7 gives you the option to report a phishing site, or suspicious site by clicking on the area saying “Suspicious Website” or “Phishing Website” or even submit the site as being a genuine site. You can also turn the phishing filter off if you so wish, by pressing Alt on your keyboard whilst in Internet Explorer 7 to display the Classic Menu, click Tools then on Phishing Filter then Turn off automatic website checking. You can turn it on again by following the same procedure, note that the only applicable option is displayed instead.

 There is a demonstration relating to this article. Click here to view it.

Windows Internet Explorer 7 cannot upgrade from a previous path of Internet Explorer 7; the application has to be uninstalled from the system, a restart is then required to remove the remaining parts from the registry and system kernel, and only then can a new version of Internet Explorer 7 be installed on top of it. To remove your previous versions of Internet Explorer 7:

1. Go to Start , Control Panel, and select Classic view.
2. Double click on Add Remove Programs.
3. At the top of the window, click the Show Updates tick box.
4. Scroll down and it’ll be either show up as “Internet Explorer 7″ in between the H and J sections, or will appear near the bottom under the subheading of “Windows XP - Software Updates”. Either way, click on it to highlight, then select Remove.
5. Follow the uninstallation wizard, but it’s essential for you to restart at the end of the process before it restores your previous version of Internet Explorer again.

You should then be able to install your new version of Internet Explorer 7 without a problem.

Parental Controls don’t just change how users access local content on their computers, it also extends to Internet Explorer because the Internet is the widest and largest source of information in the world and can have some rather rough sites which are not appropriate for young’uns.

You have the options to turn off and on the Web Filtering feature whilst having Parental Controls enabled. This means that you can access all websites but have limited access to certain games installed on the computer. You can block specific websites by typing in the address, and you can also limit off what the user sees in terms of web restriction levels, ranging from the “Highest restriction” of which only websites in an allowed list will open up, to a custom restriction setting which enables you to change which categories you wish to block the user from seeing.

There is an option to block file downloads as well which can add huge security improvements your computer. This means that nothing can be downloaded including fonts, music, documents and other files. Another cool feature, is that when a website is deemed inappropriate or unsuitable for the user logged on to view, it will display a special block message on-screen being Error 450 which means that “Parental Controls has blocked the webpage.” If the page is known to be acceptable by a parent or administrator, then they can unlock the page using their own credentials.

The “450″ error page which tells the user that the website has been blocked.

 

Parental controls that can modify web settings and what users see - all the categories available

 There is a demonstration relating to this article. Click here to view it.

Get paid to review this post! - Posted in Internet Explorer 7 | 1 Comment »