Internet Explorer help...

[Tim56]

I had a spyware program on my computer (since removed) which altered my internet explorer settings such that I now can no longer access "internet options" from the tools menu, and when I click on the icon on the desktop and go into "properties" a number of the tabs are removed, specifically "general", "security", and "advanced" would any of you guys know how I could change my settings back so I can access these again.

Thanks,

Tim.

 

[Borgsta]

easiest thing would probably be to install that spyware program again and reverse the process. Alternatively go to that programs website and check the FAQs section.

 

[feher]

You could try downloading and re-installing IE, not sure if it will work:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...cb-5e5d-48f5-b02b-20b602228de6&DisplayLang=en

Otherwise you may need to format your drive and start again.

 

[Fred]

Do you have the repair IE option in add/remove programs?

If you removed the spyware using adaware or spybot, there should be a back-up.

 

[PAFC2004]

Better solution:
Don't use IE.

 

[jim boy]

You can try this which may help.


Click on start->run->type in 'regedit' and press 'ok'

Registry editor will start.

Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer

With the Internet Explorer folder highlighted. Click on Registry then 'Export Registry File'. Give the file a name and save it somewhere.

Shut down all open IE windows (including this one), mail clients and anything else that might utlise IE, such as an RSS reader.

Delete the Internet Explorer folder

Open up IE and see if problem persists. Note that personal settings such as the home page will have been reset.

If this didn't resolve the problem and you want your old settings back. Shut down all IE windows. Find the exported registry file that you found and double click on it. Press OK both times and your system will be back to what it was.

If that didn't work, some work on the local_machine registry key will need to be undertaken. But try the above first.

 

[mattyc2422]

Better solution:
Don't use IE.

Agreed.

Firefox!

 

[Munga]

Better solution:
Don't use IE.

Greatest advice. I'm on Maxthon now but am going to try Firefox.

 

[PAFC2004]

Firefox is great.
Easy to use, very stable, and has it's own built in pop-up blocker.

 

[feher]

...
Easy to use, very stable, and has it's own built in pop-up blocker.

While i use it (ff) all the time, i will say one thing, IE SP2 beats Firefox in terms of strength of blocking pop-up, i haven't being able to find the option to block all of them yet in ff, whereas in IE SP2 it blocks them all on the highest level.

 

[jim boy]

Firefox is great.
Easy to use, very stable....

My firefox crashes all the time now... pain in the proverbial.

Still with Microsoft not releasing any future stand-alone versions of IE, then it is inevitable that products like Firefox will far outstrip IE.

 

[Munga]

Now that I've used Firefox the jury is in...

Maxthon > Firefox

 

[Tim56]

You can try this which may help.


Click on start->run->type in 'regedit' and press 'ok'

Registry editor will start.

Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer

With the Internet Explorer folder highlighted. Click on Registry then 'Export Registry File'. Give the file a name and save it somewhere.

Shut down all open IE windows (including this one), mail clients and anything else that might utlise IE, such as an RSS reader.

Delete the Internet Explorer folder

Open up IE and see if problem persists. Note that personal settings such as the home page will have been reset.

If this didn't resolve the problem and you want your old settings back. Shut down all IE windows. Find the exported registry file that you found and double click on it. Press OK both times and your system will be back to what it was.

If that didn't work, some work on the local_machine registry key will need to be undertaken. But try the above first.

Unfortunately it didn't work mate. Any advice on what to do now?

 

[jim boy]

Unfortunately it didn't work mate. Any advice on what to do now?

OK, go to regedit again, but this time go to

HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Policies \ Microsoft \ Internet Explorer

With the Internet Explorer folder highlighted. Click on Registry then 'Export Registry File'. Give the file a name and save it somewhere. This is your backup.

Next delete the Internet Explorer folder. This folder contains restrictions on the user access the to the control panel Internet Options item. Normal system don't have this at all and it is unneeded.

That's it!

 

[Mr Q]

Try this Timbo if you've got Windows 2000/XP:

Go to Start -> Run
enter gpedit.msc and press enter

A box labelled Group Policy should open (if it doesn't, don't bother reading on!)
Click on User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Internet Explorer -> Internet Control Panel

In the right hand panel, you should see policies for disabling assorted pages. If any of them are set to Enabled, change them to Not Configured (or Disabled). Be wary - in these settings if you "Enable" the policy, it actually disables the tab.

If they're already set to "Not Configured", you might get around the problem by setting them to Disabled instead.

Once done, reboot your machine. It might not fix anything, but it probably can't get any worse .