Internet Explorer Tips

This section will have tips on Internet Explorer. These tips work in Internet Explorer 6.0, but it may also work in other versions.

Tip #1 - Decrease icon size
Is your Internet Explorer icons taking up a lot of space? Why not reduce the size of the icons to have more browsing space. To do this, right click on any icons (or an area around it) and choose Customize. Then under Text Options, choose No text labels. And under Icon Options, choose Small icons.

Tip #2 - Autocomplete
Did you ever go to a website and filled out a online form, and while filling it in it's somehow finishing the rest of the text for you? This can be annoying sometimes. You can either delete all entries entered or only delete the ones you don't like.

First, I'll show you how to delete one entry at a time. Next time when this (auto filling for you) happens again just use your down arrow key and go to the one you want to be gone. Then all you need to do after the arrow has highlighted it, is press the delete key.

Now on to delete all entries entered in Internet Explorer. You will need to go to Tools->Internet Options->Content Tab->Autocomplete. Then click the Clear Forms and Clear Passwords buttons. You can also uncheck any of the options, if you don't want Internet Explorer to remember what you typed in.

Tip #3 - Never dial a connection
This tip will get rid of dialing to your ISP whenever you click on a html (website) file, while you are offline. This must have happened to us many times before. Well to turn this off, all you need to do is go to Tools->Internet Options->Connections Tab. Then you will see three buttons. Choose the first one that says Never dial a connection and click OK. The next time you click on an html file while offline, you won't be prompted to go online.

Tip #4 - Load IE faster
To make your Internet Explorer browser open (load) faster, just set the Homepage to "about:blank" (no quotes). To do this go to Tools->Internet Options and under Homepage click the Use Blank button. Then click OK and the next time you launch Internet Explorer, you will have a blank browser.

Tip #5 - Keyboard shortcuts
Here are some shortcuts in Internet Explorer using the function keys:

F1 = opens up Internet Explorer's help file
F3 = opens up the Search Companion
F4 = highlights the Address bar and shows a list of addresses that's been typed in
F5 = refreshes the current webpage
F6 = highlights the Address bar (edit mode)
F11 = maximizes IE to full screen view

Tip #6 - Print all links in a webpage
Here's a good tip in IE to print all the links associated within a webpage. Go to File->Print->Print table of links.

Tip #7 - Import/Export favorites
Many of us use different browsers for surfing the net. To import your favorites/bookmarks from another browser to Internet Explorer, go to File->Import and Export.... Then follow the directions to import your favorites or even cookies from that alternative browser.

Tip #8 - Send link/page by email
This tip will be on the Send menu, under File. Go to File->Send->Page by E-mail.... This will send the webpage you are currently viewing as an attachment. Another option is to send by link. Go to File->Send->Link by E-mail.... This will only send the link to the recipient of the email. The Link by E-mail...option is recommended because this won't be a huge email file. Make sure you have your email client configured in Internet Explorer to do this. The third option is Shortcut to Desktop. This will just send the webpage to your desktop.

Tip #9 - Restrict access to certain sites
This tip will show you how to restrict access to certain sites. It will not load the site that you restricted, unless you remove the restriction. Go to Tools->Internet Options->Security and click on the Restricted Sites button on top. Then click on the Sites button. Under the message "Add this Web site to the zone:", type in the url address (ex: www.yahoo.com) of the website you want to restrict access to. Then click on the Add button. To remove the restriction, go to the bottom part where it says Website and choose the website you want to be removed. Then click on the Remove button.

Tip #10 - History
If you ever visited a website and forgot the url (internet address) for it, you may still be able to get it. If you didn't clear the internet addresses that are stored on your IE temp file, then go to your history folder. To do this, go to View->Explorer Bar->History. Then look through the list and you should be able to find it. Another way is to click on the History icon or press ctrl+H.

Tip #11 - Change IE default search engine
There are many people that use Internet Explorer's search feature. As you may have noticed, whenever you do a search it's using Microsoft's search engine. Some of us like other search engines. My personal favorite is Google. To change the search engine in your Search Companion to Google, go into Internet Explorer and click on Search. Then go to Change Preferences->Change Internet Search Behavior->Enable With Classic Internet Search and choose Google. Click OK and do a search. This was done using Internet Explorer 6.0, but it should be similar in previous versions.

Tip #12 - Clear IE data cache
There is a bug (corrupt cache) in IE6 that causes the CPU to be used as much as 100% in resources. This will cause a major slowdown. There is a way to correct this in NT and above. You will need to go into the command prompt and navigate to C:\Documents and Settings\your_username\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5. Now make sure that you don't have any programs running. If you do, make sure to close them now. Press ctrl+alt+del and go into the Processes tab. Right click on explorer.exe and choose End Process. You should only have the command prompt now. Type del index.dat to delete the cache file. You may also do a dir and see other files in there, which you may also wish to delete. After that, you can bring back Windows by pressing ctrl+alt+del and then go to File->New Task and type in explorer.

Tip #13 - Determine if a site is the site you want to go to
There has been so many emails that spoofs/fakes the url (internet address) that most people don't even recognize. To ensure that you go to the site you want, copy and paste the following code into the Address bar and hit OK --> javascript:alert("The actual URL of this site is: " + location.protocol + "//" + location.hostname + "/");. Try it out on this site and it should say The actual URL of this site is: http://www.greyknight17.com.

Tip #14 - Repairing Internet Explorer
If Internet Explorer is constantly giving you problems, it might be time to do a Repair. Go to Start->(Settings)->Control Panel->Add/Remove Programs and look for Internet Explorer and double click and choose to Repair it. You might need your Windows CD.

If the above does not work, there is an alternative way to repair IE. Just go to Start->Run and type in the below commands. Make sure to do this for each one separately (type in one at a time):
regsvr32 Urlmon.dll
regsvr32 Shdocvw.dll
regsvr32 Shell32.dll
regsvr32 Oleaut32.dll
regsvr32 Actxprxy.dll
regsvr32 Mshtml.dll
regsvr32 msjava.dll