Ask Leo!: Internet Explorer

How do I get rid of IE9's "Speed up browsing by disabling add-ons" notification?

leo@pugetsoundsoftware (Leo A. Notenboom) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 16:43:16 -08:00

I am running Windows 7 Pro, 32 bit. Every time I open IE-9, a pop-up appears, asking me if I want to speed up browsing by disabling add-ons. How do I get rid of this?

]]> Unfortunately, you can't.

But we can definitely make it significantly less likely to happen.

The problem is that this isn't just a simple informative notification. It's actually telling you that some of the add-ons currently loading in IE are taking too long to load.

What version of Internet Explorer should I be running?

leo@pugetsoundsoftware (Leo A. Notenboom) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 18:00:00 -08:00

Leo, I understand that Microsoft will be aggressively pushing IE8 and IE9 installation. I have been reading Ask Leo! for years, and when IE8 was first released, I recall questions like, “How do I remove IE8?” Users were, apparently, having many problems with IE8, so I have avoided it all this time. At the time, you recommended that readers use caution and perhaps not install IE8 unless necessary. Would you please revisit the question of upgrading to IE8 and/or IE9 in view of the fact that Microsoft is trying to get everyone off IE6 and IE7?

Can those of us with Windows XP skip the IE8 upgrade and go straight to IE9, and avoid the problems with IE8? I have XP with IE7. I have been having issues with a few websites not viewing properly, especially Facebook. They now have a permanent banner on my FB home page telling me to upgrade to IE8 or switch to Chrome.

]]> Much like their push to kill Outlook Express, Internet Explorer 6 and of late Internet Explorer 7 have apparently come on Microsoft's radar for active abandonment.

Microsoft would like to see IE6 and IE7 disappear for a variety of reasons.

And, to be honest, so should you.

How do I change what search engine is used by Internet Explorer?

leo@pugetsoundsoftware (Leo A. Notenboom) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 14:32:44 -08:00

The default search in MS IE8 (and 9) is Bing of Microsoft. How do I change that? On one of my computers, I can click on the search engine that I want to use for that search. How do I get all of them to use Google or Bing? Can I add also more options like Wikipedia?

]]> It's really no surprise that Microsoft's Bing is the default search provider for Microsoft's Internet Explorer. And, to be fair, Bing's not that bad of a search engine.

Unfortunately, Bing's garnered a bad reputation with some people by virtue of what I'll simply call over-aggressive marketing. Many people found themselves with Bing as their search engine, their home page, and sometimes even more - and all of it quite resistant to change.

Even when it doesn't though, you may find yourself wanting to change the search engine used by Internet Explorer, or even simply add an additional search engine to those that are easily available.

How do I disable Internet Explorer add-ons?

leo@pugetsoundsoftware (Leo A. Notenboom) — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 14:12:06 -08:00

I had asked you about a problem that I was having with Internet Explorer. Your response was to “disable add-ons.”

Huh? I have no idea what that means. Please explain.

]]> Fair enough. It's another one of those things that I take somewhat for granted.

Ultimately, many problems with Internet Explorer aren't caused by IE at all. They're caused by software that's added to IE to extend its functionality.

Not surprisingly, those are called add-ons.

They sometimes show up without warning, but they're easily dealt with in later versions of IE.

Can I remove Internet Explorer if I never use it?

leo@pugetsoundsoftware (Leo A. Notenboom) — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 16:12:16 -08:00

Because I use Firefox 100% of the time, what do I do with Internet Explorer? You indicated earlier that it's best not to actually delete it because it's still needed in a minimal way (Windows updates use it). For security and privacy reasons, what can be done to render it more safe? Should browser helpers be deleted, security settings set to a level higher than Medium, or ActiveX items and JavaScript functions deleted? I no longer tend to IE (out of sight, out of mind). Any comments on minimizing exposure to malware and viruses while keeping the simplest function of receiving Windows updates would be appreciated. IE seems to always be the target for miscreants and I would love not to fall prey to them.

]]> It's needed in more than a "minimal way", so not only is it best not to delete it, it's critical that you do not.

Portions of what you and I consider Internet Explorer are actually part of Windows itself and would cause portions of Windows to fail (more than just the Windows Update website). In fact, it could quite possibly cause other applications that depend on the functionality that those parts of IE-in-Windows provides to fail as well.