Internet Explorer (IE) is so widely used that it is just too hard to ignore. No matter how much you hate Microsoft, you are bound to have used some part of it during your time spent on internet of course! Just ensure that you have the latest Critical Updates installed either automatically or by regularly visiting IE homepage Microsoft’s site.

Just remembered a few tricks that might help you to run your IE better. (I know it is a doomed piece of software but IE is a superstar for many out there, including many organisations) Speaking with experience, I know when IE does go wrong it can bring Windows (and thus your PC) crashing down around it. Fortunately most problems can be a breeze to resolve, either with the Repair utility, Uninstalling and Reinstalling, or reverting to an Earlier version (if available and if need be).

If IE is throwing its weight around, the first thing to do is go to Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel, double click on Microsoft Internet Explorer and the option to Add, Repair or Restore will appear. This will help in controlling the traunt piece of s/w.

It might be some help if you add Google Toolbarto your browser. This puts a Google search window on every web page. A link for the same can be found on Google’s home page under Services and Tools. Actually, there are two of them. One reports page links back to Google for ratings purposes, so if you are fanatical about privacy it would be recommended that you choose the version Without Advanced Features.

My colleagues often complain when they click on a page link and another IE window opens but not in maximised form. There are several solutions to this, but the one I tell them is as follows. Click the link to open a new page and straight away close the first IE window. Use the mouse to drag the borders of the new window to full screen (do not use the Maximise button!) while holding down the Ctrl key. Then click the close window in the top right corner of the window.

The other annoyance is pop-up advertisements and banners. After numerous experiments I finally have a reasonable answer. The best pop-up stopper I have zeroed on Free Surfer (there are plenty other options too).

Hot tips (Learnt while browsing several reports online)

If you have several web sites on your Favourites list that require passwords to access, but you don’t want them to be automatically remembered, here’s a trick to make them easily accessible, but hidden from normal view.
*Open your Favourites list, right-click on the entry for a site that needs a password and select Rename.
*Press the space bar a half dozen or so times to enter in some blank spaces then type in your password; you can jumble or reverse the order if you’re really cautious.
*Because of the width of the Favourites list your password won’t normally be visible but you can show it by dragging the Favourites list border a few centimetres to the right.

(It’s a crude but workable method)