How to Disable Internet Explorer!
Posted by Nick on January 18, 2010 at 12:21 pm
I had enough of it! The same spyware showed up again in my computer, after effectively removing it a couple of weeks ago. I am certain it came from browser with Internet Explorer. So I disabled it, and here is how you can too, if you have thought of blocking Internet Explorer from working in your computer.
Block Internet Explorer (IE) from working in your computer may not be such a bad idea. There are three main reasons that I would advice most users in favor of disabling Internet Explorer from running on their computer:
Firstly, Internet Explorer (IE) is the most popular browser in use. It is the browser created by Microsoft and has been installed in every windows system. Consequently, it has come under much attack from spammers, viruses and spyware. Most of the spyware that you get from browsing with Internet Explorer simply aren’t made to work with other browsers.
Secondly, Microsoft has not been able to deliver a high quality product that can sustain these spyware attacks with Internet Explorer. Other than the external attacks, IE also suffers many bugs internally. That has been my observation.
Thirdly, there are better browsers out there that you can use, which are constantly updated and improved, and they are free. The ones I would recommend are Firefox, Safari or Opera.
But getting rid of IE is not an easy task, of course. The Microsoft army has done a good job at making sure you can’t get rid of their crap if you are using their system. While deleting IE entirely may be harder to do for most users, including myself, because I am not a techie, there is however a way to make it not work, by making it not connect to the Internet. Of course, you can just as easily make it connect to the Internet if you wanted to again in the future.
Here’s what to do (make sure you have another browser installed before you do this):
- Step One: Open Internet Explorer
- Step Two: Click on Tools > Internet Options > Connections > LAN Settings
- Step Three: Check box next to “Use a Proxy Server for your LAN”
- Step Four: Type in “0.0.0.0″ (No brackets) in the address box, and 80 in the port box
- Step Five: Click, OK
What you have done is that you set up a dummy proxy server “0.0.0.0″ that doesn’t go anywhere, therefore IE can’t locate the Internet.
There are ways to completely remove it, but I wouldn’t know how to do it, and quite frankly, I wouldn’t try. The reason being that often Windows, especially the newer versions, malfunction if you remove IE. Not worth the headache. The main reason is to discourage yourself or other users from using Internet Explorer and the technique I explained will do it.
If you ever want to re-enable IE again, you can just open it, go to Click on Tools > Internet Options > Connections > LAN Settings, and un-check the box “Use a Proxy Server for your LAN”
Update: I have observed that Safari doesn’t connect to the Internet when IE is disabled. I have heard the same happens to Opera. That is because they use the same “Internet Properties” feature as IE. No biggie, unless you use them. Firefox works beautifully!
Tags:block internet explorer, browsers and spyware, firefox, how to disable internet explorer, opera, safari
Filed Under: Business, Life Lessons, Technology