Microsoft Internet Explorer Problems: Understanding Internet Explorer 8 Advanced Settings

Internet Explorer sells even though it creates many problems such as freezing, reloading, vanishing, and much more. There are several forums and articles dealing with Internet Explorer 8 problems all over the Internet. The reason why people go for it: they believe in Microsoft and are sure that IE8 is more secure than any other browser.

In fact, the browser is really safe and reliable. You can customize it to the extent you wish. The only thought to be given before customizing it is about which features are required and which are not. However, in an attempt to make Internet Explorer 8 an easy to use browser that offers single point features for emailing, blogging, and many such features, Microsoft made it too generic. This means that your copy of Internet Explorer 8 has several features/settings that you do not require. Added to this, most of the programs you install try to add their own features to the browser, making it very time consuming and creating conflicts. This results in what is commonly known as Internet Explorer 8 crashes.

Assuming that you have a fresh Microsoft Windows installation with Internet Explorer 8, let us see what all is available. This will also help you clear the IE8 advanced settings clutter so that you are able to use the browser smoothly.

Within IE8, there are plenty of settings, add-ons, and other features that most of us seldom use. The very first example is the Incognito Mode. Microsoft Internet Explorer 8 claims that running the browser in Incognito mode (also known as Internet Explorer Porn mode) will remove your browsing traces, which is the equivalent to running a computer junk and privacy cleaner. Cleaners, such as Comodo System Cleaner, also remove all these traces. The Incognito feature still requires you to keep such information as long as you are on the website. Unfortunately, I could not find any simple option to load Internet Explorer 8 without Incognito. The option to run Internet Explorer in Incognito mode is available as Private Browsing in the Tools menu.

Unlike the Internet Explorer 8 Incognito mode, most of the other IE8 advanced settings clutter can be cleaned and customized as per your wish.

Among the most resource consuming features of Internet Explorer 8 are Web Slices, Suggested Sites, and Add-ons. Normally, people do not use these. The following paragraphs help you understand the advanced settings in Internet Explorer, if you need them, and how to remove them.

Web Slices in Internet Explorer 8 intend to present you with portions of web pages that you subscribe to from a single point. This is same as subscribing to RSS feeds of different pages. Using this feature slows down or even freezes your Internet Explorer 8 for a few moments as you are browsing. This is because, as you are browsing, the browser checks for updates on these slices, temporarily creating what we call Internet Explorer 8 Freeze.

It is better to bookmark individual RSS links inIE8 or subscribe to them on your blog rather than using the Web Slices. Although you can right click and delete the option, it won’t solve the purpose. To disable Web Slices in Internet Explorer 8, open the Contents tab in the Internet Options dialog. The last portion is named Feeds and Web Slices (Fig 1). Click on the Settings button and clear off all check boxes (Fig 2). Hit the enter key, close the dialog, and remove Web Slices from the Bookmarks bar.

The Suggested Sites bookmark keeps a watch on the type of websites you are browsing. It collects relevant information to present you with similar sites. When you are browsing, IE is also checking in background about sites of similar nature. When you click the link on the bookmarks bar, you are presented with links to different sites of similar content. The process to remove Suggested Sites is the same as that of removing Web Slices from Internet Explorer.

This is just the beginning. To understand other advanced settings in Internet Explorer 8, check out the next page of this article.

Please continue reading on page two for more information about IE8 advanced settings.