Getting the most from Microsoft Internet Explorer

Microsoft Internet Explorer is unquestionably the most popular internet browser around, it’s generally quick and very easy to use.

It has a lot of functions and options that more users do not use though , these include ..

Increasing security of internet explorer
Routine maintenance to keep Internet Explorer running in tip top condition.
Ability to block certain sites and matter if you have children using your computer
Checkout more Internet pages below

Pop-up blocker
Microsoft Internet Explorer Security
Unfortunately as the internet gets bigger and more complex so do things like virus’s , hackers , spyware etc. To increase the security of your browser only takes a few minutes and is definitely worth it.
Do you use internet banking or any other secure websites ? , are you aware your computer probably stores these secure or encrypted pages to your hard drive ?.

To prevent any such pages ever being stored , go to the Tools menu of Internet Explorer , now select Internet Options , choose the Advanced tab , find the security section and make sure Do Not save Encrypted Pages to Disk

The next part to security is the Zone’s , generally people only connect to the internet , but a lot of companies and business’s have Intranets as well, so you might wish to have different security on both of these. microsoft internet explorer article

Increasing Microsoft Internet explorer memory
If you only connect to the internet , then you might still wish to increase your security. From the tools menu , again select internet options , now choose the security tab .

From here you can see the Internet and Intranet zones , plus trusted and restricted sites.

If you highlight the Internet icon , you then see the security level zone slider. Generally medium is good as this will give you good overall security.

You can however change this to high or lower from here , but be warned higher will block some site content so the sites may not show up properly , if you reduce security you might be allowing certain files to be installed to your computer without your knowledge.

Routine Maintenance

Over time Microsoft internet explorer can get a little bogged down with temporary internet files history and even auto completed words and forms.
Delete Microsoft internet explorer history , temporary internet files and auto complete words.

To give Microsoft Internet explorer a quick spring clean go to the Tools menu and select Internet Options, click the General tab if it's not already high lighted, then select

Delete files ( this will be under the section labelled Temporary internet files),

This will remove any temporary internet files stored on your pc, most of the time these files will only clutter up your pc, so it's good to have a clear out once a week or so.

Next is the Microsoft internet explorer history , it’s a good idea to delete internet explorer history or sites that you visit every so often.
To do this, once again from the Tools menu of internet explorer choose Internet Options , under the General tab you will see the History sub section, hit the button to Clear History and after a few seconds it will be done.

Auto Complete
One thing that people never think about clearing is the personal information of auto complete

Auto complete is a great help , when you have to type the same information , as soon as you begin to type auto complete will help to complete the word or sentence if you’ve type it before.
But after time you can build up a lot of various words and sentences.

If you wish to clear the auto complete , from the Tools menu of Microsoft internet explorer choose Internet options , now select the Content tab , choose Auto Complete from the Personal Information section , from here you can clear forms which stores all the auto complete information.

You can also clear any stored passwords from here as well if you wish.

Clearing temp files , history and auto complete data every so often not only makes your computer run a little faster , but it’s also a good security as well.
It’s never a good idea to leave too many traces of browsing habits behind on your computer, especially if you use any secure / personal sites , such as internet banking or other sites where you have to login .

Ability to block certain sites and content if you have minors or people sensitive to material using your computer , restrict internet explorer
The internet is a vast array of all kinds of information , most could be considered suitable for everyone , but there are sites of somewhat dubious content around.
If you minors using your computer it’s always a good idea to restrict some of the content on the web .

It can sometimes be far too easy to accidentally stumble across violent or other illicit material when browsing seeming innocent subjects.

One of the great features of Microsoft Internet Explorer is its content advisor , where you can restrict internet explorer ; it's really easy to use and means you don't have to worry that you children will stumble across any illicit material when browsing the web.

To use the Content advisor, once again go to the tools menu, select internet options, select the content tab, under content advisor click "Enable", then under the ratings tab choose, the ratings level for each of the subjects "Language", Nudity", "Sex", "Violence",

Then click ok, it will then ask you for a password, after this is done, you'll need to enter the password to make any changes, ( one little piece of advice, the Language filter is very good,

but it will even block virtually everything if it's set too low, so you might want to have a play to see exactly what is being blocked, otherwise you might find yourself having to change it every few minutes, when your little darlings cannot get onto there favorite games or football site )

Pop-up Blocker
Today there seems to be more companies offering free pop-up blockers than ever before. It’s funny though , install a lot of these free blockers and you will only invite more trouble than before , as they block all other pop-ups apart from the sites they sponsor, they also come with some very annoying spyware that can monitor your browsing habits.
Microsoft internet explorer article

So if you intend to use a pop-up blocker use the one built into internet explorer, it’s very easy to use and does a decent job. If you are looking for an alternative blocker try google’s , it’s easy to install and use.

To use Microsoft internet explorer pop-up blocker ,

I’m going to presume you are using Windows XP . You need to install Windows XP Service Pack 2 , you can find out more info and can download from here if you have not installed it yet.
Once it’s installed, from the Tools menu of Microsoft internet explorer you’ll see Pop-Up Blocker , the setting you have from here is Turn off pop-up blocker , this will change to Turn on pop-up blocker if you do turn it off.
Under pop-up blocker settings you can add sites that you wish to exclude from the pop-up blocker , you can also specify the blocker settings , medium is good for more people.

It's a good idea to leave play a sound when a pop-up is blocked ticked , this way even though you don’t see the pop-ups, you know when a popup was blocked, and apart from knowing which other sites use this annoyance, you'll be able to allow needed popups for sites such as banks etc..

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