Internet Explorer 7.0 (IE7) Security Settings

The Internet Explorer 7.0 was developed as part of the new Vista operating system.  It was released as an update to prior operating systems such as Windows XP.  As it was written for Vista, I find that it works very well with that version of Windows without having to fiddle with settings. 

If you have updated your Windows XP or 2000 to the IE7 you may be experiencing some error messages on the "status bar" (the bar along the bottom that shows that the browser is waiting for a site or is done) such as "done, but with errors on page".  You might also find that some sites won't start an image or video, or will just freeze with a white screen while the status bar displays that it is still loading the site. 

Here are the fixes and settings that I found to work:

1. First, you must be running the most recent version of Javascript software.  In your browser go to Sun Microsystems at http://www.java.com/en/download/manual.jsp.  Start by clicking on "Verify installation" to see if you have the current version which is 1.5.0_11, another screen will pop up that will have a "Verify installation" button on it. Click on that button. 

If you have the current version, the program will run fairly quickly and display the correct version.  If your version is older, the program will either take a long time, freeze or finally display the correct version.  If the version is not current go back to the original site and download or run the update. 

I find, on some machines, that you must save the file to your PC (on the desktop will do) and run it from there.  Don't forget to delete the file from the desktop when you finish running it.

2. Now you need to adjust some settings in the browser for things to run smoothly.  Click on the "Tools" button on Internet Explorer 7 as shown with the black arrow below:

3. Now open the "Internet Options" and click on the "Security" Tab, then on "Custom Level..." as shown below:

4. The following picture sequence is my suggestion to the settings that will help Internet Explorer 7 work with Windows XP and 2000.  I found that the anti-phishing and pop-up filters are quite clumsy and tend to block too much content causing the browser to freeze when loading most sites.  If you are running any of the more popular Internet Security Suites such as CA Internet Security Suite 2007 or McAfee, you should shut off the IE7 controls for these items as depicted below.  Use the picture sequence to get my suggested settings:

5. After adjusting the settings you click on "OK".  You will get an IE7 WARNING message as shown below, click on the "Yes".

6. Just 2 more changes.  From here click on the "Advanced" folder:

        Click and hold the drag bar to the bottom:

7. Now click on "Empty temporary internet files..." and "Disable Phishing Filter" as indicated below.  When done click on "Apply":

8. The next settings are a suggestion for the "Tab" settings that are the big change in the Internet Explorer 7 browser.   Click on the "General" tab on top (opposite of the "Advanced" tab) and then the "Settings" button under the "Tabs" section as shown below:

9. Click in the circles as shown next (note: the "Open home page for new tabs... selections may not work on some PCs.  You can get your home page on the new tab by clicking the home icon):

10. Click on all of the "OK" buttons until you close out the control windows.
11. Close the IE7 browser.
12. Right click on the Internet Explorer 7 icon on your desktop and click on "Start without add-ons" to start the browser.  You will get a warning bar under your browsing tab and a beep (if your sound is on), just ignore these.
13. Now close IE7 and repeat step 12 one more time, then close IE7 again.
14. You are now ready to use Internet Explorer 7 in the normal way.
15. BIG HINT... If you try to open a site and the browser freezes or finishes the page with errors or missing items try clicking back on the site link while holding down the control key (Ctrl) on the bottom left side of your keyboard.  Holding down the "Ctrl" key is a commonly used method to override security settings in many applications.