Top 10 tips for Internet Explorer 9
Internet Explorer has been a part of the Windows operating system for ages now. It received a fair bit of flak as well, but things really have improved, since the last couple of versions. Internet Explorer 9 - the latest public release offers a whole bunch of features and performance. If you haven’t tried it yet or if you had given it up, here’s time to give it a second chance. Head over to our download page and get yourself a copy of IE9 now.
Change the default search engine
Every browser has a default search engine that it uses. In the case of Microsoft, it’s Bing. Now Bing maybe a decent search engine, but most of us are used to Google as our default search engine. Here’s a quick way to make Google your search engine. To do this, click on the search icon dropdown in the address bar.
Making Google your default search engine
Click on the Add button and IE will load a bunch of add-ons. Look for Search add-ons and you’ll be able to find your favorite search engines there. Choose Google and click on the Add to Internet Explorer button to add it. You also get the option to make it your default search provider.
Pin your favourite sites (i.e Tech2) using IE9
Bookmarks are old now, the easier and quicker way to access your favorite web sites is to pin them. For example, now you can pin Tech2 to your taskbar and quicky access it right from your desktop. It involves dragging and dropping a tab from IE9 to your Windows 7 taskbar.
Enabling private browsing mode on IE9 startup
When your PC is being used by many users, it’s easy to leave traces of your browsing history on it. Browsers these days have a private browsing features that ensures that no no files and history of browsing is left back on the computer. Now, with Internet Explorer 9, you can choose to start the browser in this mode, so it’s easier to access. A shortcut can be placed on the Start menu or the desktop, depending on what is more convenient to you.
To do this, all you need to do is create a new Internet Explorer 9 shortcut. Right click on the desktop, click on New > Shortcut. Click on Browse and navigate to the Internet Explorer, which is usually in the Program Files folder. Enter the location as “C:Program FilesInternet Exploreriexplore.exe” -private. Click on Next and enter a name for the shortcut. Double clicking this new icon should launch Internet Explorer in the private mode.
Using IE9 as a feed reader
Using RSS feeds are an easy way of getting quick news updates from your favourite sites. For example, Tech2 uses RSS feeds and you can use the RSS feeds reading feature in Internet Explorer 9 to get the latest updates. To subscribe to a feed, simply click on the RSS link or icon on a particular site.
A page with all the latest feeds should appear. Click on the Subscribe to this feed to add the RSS feed to your list. The list of feeds will appear under the Favourites menu on the right top of the screen. You can also change the properties of the feed to refresh automatically after a set
The reworked user interface of Internet Explorer 9 has a collapsed menu bar, which means users can’t access all of the features. An easy way to show the menu bar is press the Alt key, which temporarily enables it. but if you want to have the menu bar enabled at all times, first press Alt, then click on View > Toolbars and enable Menu bar
Improve privacy - disable geo-location tracking
Most browsers and sites these days try and get a location fix on your PC and offer you customized information depending on your location. If you feel that you don’t want this location information to be sent out by your browser, then there’s a way to disable it.
Disabling location tracking
The option is hidden away in the Internet Options menu. Click on Tools > Internet Options, then on the Privacy tab. Click on the Never allow websites to request your physical location checkbox.
Tweak IE9 - improve startup times
When you start using a browser, you start installing plugins and add-ons to it. This eventually slows down a browser. Fortunately, users can turn off add-ons quickly and lose a few seconds in terms of startup times. Click on the Tools icon on the right-top corner of the IE window and click Manage Add-ons. Here, you can choose, which add-ons you would like to load and, which ones you’d like to skip. To disable an add-on, right-click on an add-on and click on Disable.
View more quickstart tabs on IE9 About:Tabs page
The Internet Explorer 9 new tab shows up a list of recently viewed pages. There are two rows in all, and 10 tabs in total. However, if you want to view more tabs for easy access, you can do so by modifying a registry entry. Start the Registry Editor by typing regedit in the Start menu. Browse to HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftInternet ExplorerTabbedBrowsingNewTabPage. Right-click on the right pane and click on New DWORD (32-bit) Value. Enter the value as 5 (or as many rows as you want). Close the Registry Editor and reboot your PC. The effect of the registry change should be visible in Internet Explorer.
Uninstall Internet Explorer 9
One of the neat features of Internet Explorer 9 is the ability to uninstall the browser, if you want to. Previous versions of Internet Explorer were locked to the oeprating system and could not be uninstalled, even if the user wished to. The way to do it is like you would with any other
Disabling the IE9 browser
However, you may not see Internet Explorer 9 in this list. Click on the Turn Windows features on or off link and Internet Explorer 9 will no longer be enabled on your PC.
Show more tabs on the tab bar
The tab on the new Internet Explorer 9 browser is more compact. The tab bar shares space with the address bar and other buttons on it. this means that if you have more than a few tabs open, the tabs appear too small to really make out anything. In this case, it’s better to move the tab bar to the second row, so you have more space. To do this, simply click on one of the tabs visible on the Internet Explorer 9 window and click on the Show tabs on a separate row menu.