Many of these settings are obscure, but there are many that are extremely useful to users of all kinds. This section goes over all of these settings. In the Internet Options dialog box, the Advanced tab contains a long list of Internet Explorer customization settings.
Advanced Internet options can be configured for users through the Group Policy Editor. Run the program and open the User Configuration, Internet Settings branch. Windows and Internet Explorer Maintenance. Right-click Internet Explorer Maintenance and then select Preference mode.
Click the Advanced branch that is added to the Internet Explorer Maintenance section. Double-click the Internet Settings item to work with the advanced options.
Maybe you may be interested: Unidentified Network in Windows 10: Solutions to Restore Internet Access
Advanced Internet Options
In the Internet options of the advanced tab we can find several branches:
The Advanced Internet Options Accessibility Branch
Here we can find two options:
1. Always expand ALT text for images
Most webmasters provide a text description for each image they include on a page. If you set Internet Explorer to not display images, all you see are boxes where the images should be, and each box contains the text description (which is known as alternative text, where alt is short for alternative).
Selecting this check box tells Internet Explorer to expand the image box horizontally so that the alternative text appears on a single line, making it easier to read.
2. Move system caret with focus/selection changes
Selecting this check box configures Internet Explorer to move the system caret whenever the focus changes. (The system caret is a visual indication of which part of the screen currently has focus.
If a text box has the focus, the system caret is a blinking vertical bar; if a check box or radio button has the focus, the system caret is a dotted outline from the name of the control).
This is useful if you have a screen reader or screen magnifier that uses the position of the system caret to determine what part of the screen should be read or magnified.
The Advanced Internet Options Browsing branch
In this branch of internet options we can find the following:
1. Always send URL as UTF-8 (Requires restart)
When selected, this check box tells Internet Explorer to send web page addresses using the UTF-8 (Universal character set Transformation Format 8) standard, which can be read in any language.
If you have trouble accessing a page that uses non-English characters in the URL, the server may not be able to handle UTF-8, so clear this checkbox. You need to restart Internet Explorer if you change this setting.
2. Automatically check for Internet Explorer updates
When selected, this option flags Internet Explorer to check (approximately every 30 days) for a newer version of the program. This is a useful and easy method to keep up to date with the latest Internet Explorer updates and security patches.
3. Close unused folders in history and favorites (requires restart)
When this check box is selected, Internet Explorer keeps unused folders closed when it displays the History bar and Favorites bar. That is, if you open a folder and then go to a second folder, Internet Explorer automatically closes the first folder.
This makes the lists of History and Favorites easier to navigate, so it's usually best to leave this option selected. You must restart Internet Explorer if you change this setting.
4. Disable script debugging
This checkbox Turns the script debugger on and off commands (if one is installed). You should select this option only if you are a page designer and you have scripts on your pages that you need to debug before uploading them to the web.
5. Display a notification about every script error
If you select this check box, Internet Explorer displays a dialog box to alert you about JavaScript or VBScript errors on a page. If you leave this option disabled, Internet Explorer displays an error message in the status bar. To view the full error message, double-click the message in the status bar.
Again, only the script programmers You will want to enable this option, and only when you are debugging scripts. Many websites are poorly programmed and contain bugs. script, so enabling this option means you'll have to deal with a lot of annoying dialogs while browsing.
6. Enable folder view for FTP sites
When you go to the advanced Internet options, you select this option and access a site File Transfer Protocol (FTP), Internet Explorer displays the site's content using the familiar Windows folder view. This makes it easy to drag and drop files from the FTP site to your hard drive (and possibly perform other file maintenance tasks, depending on the permissions you have on the site).
7. Enable on-demand installation (Internet Explorer)
When this check box is selected, Internet Explorer examines each web page for elements that require a specific browser feature. If that feature is not installed and comes with configuration instructions in a cabinet information file, Internet Explorer prompts you to install the feature.
If you find that a page doesn't seem to work correctly, a missing component could be the problem, so try enabling this option.
8. Enable on-demand installation (other)
This is similar to the option Enable on-demand installation (Internet Explorer), except that selecting this check box in Internet Explorer's Advanced Options flags Internet Explorer to prompt you to install features that come with the setup program. Windows Virtual Machine Only (Java support, which is not installed by default on Windows XP) can be installed this way.
9. Allow offline items to sync on a schedule
This checkbox turns sync updates on and off. Unchecking this checkbox is a good idea if you're going out of town for a few days and don't want offline pages to update while you're away.
10. Enable page transitions
This check box enables or disables Internet Explorer's support for page transitions. Websites that use a server that supports FrontPage extensions can define various page transitions (such as wipes and fades). However, these transitions often slow down navigation, so we recommend disabling them.
11. Enable custom favorites menu
When this check box is selected, the menu function «personalised» Windows is applied to the Internet Explorer Favorites menu. This means that Internet Explorer hides favorites that you haven't visited in a long time. To view hidden favorites, click the downward-pointing arrow at the bottom of the menu.
Custom menus reduce command clutter, which can confuse novice users but only slow down experienced users. We recommend leaving this option disabled..
12. Enable third-party browser extensions (requires restart)
When this check box is selected, Internet Explorer supports third-party extensions in its interface. For example, the Internet Explorer toolbar Google is a third-party extension that integrates the Google search engine into Internet Explorer as a toolbar.
If you clear this checkbox, these third-party extensions do not appear and cannot be displayed. Unchecking this checkbox is a good way to disable those annoying third-party toolbars that install themselves without permission. You must reset Internet Explorer if you change this setting.
13. Enable visual styles on buttons and controls on web pages
When this check box is selected, Internet Explorer applies the current Windows visual style to all web pages for objects such as form buttons. If you clear this check box, Internet Explorer applies its default visual style to all elements on the page.
14. Force offscreen compositing even on Terminal Server (requires reboot)
If you select this check box, Internet Explorer performs all composition (the combination of two or more images) into memory before displaying the result on the screen.
This prevents image flickering that can occur when running Internet Explorer in Services. Bus Terminal Server, but may significantly reduce performance. We recommend keeping this option disabled. You must restart Internet Explorer if you change this setting.
15. Notify when downloads are complete
If you leave this check box selected in the Internet Advanced Options, Internet Explorer leaves its download progress dialog box on the screen after the download is complete.
This allows you to click on Open to start the downloaded file or click on Open folder to display the destination folder for the file. If you clear this check box, Internet Explorer closes this dialog box as soon as the download is complete.
Tip: You can also force Internet Explorer to close the dialog box Download complete automatically, by selecting the check box Close this painting dialogue when the download is complete in the download progress dialog box.
16. Reuse Windows to launch shortcuts
When this check box is selected in the advanced Internet options, Windows looks for an already open Internet Explorer window when you click a shortcut to a web page (such as a web address in an Outlook Express email message).
If such a window is open, the web page is loaded in that window. This is a good idea because Prevent Internet Explorer windows from multiplying unnecessarily. If you clear this option, Windows always loads the page in a new Internet Explorer window.
17. Display friendly HTTP error messages
When this check box is selected in the advanced Internet options, Internet Explorer intercepts error messages (for example, pages not found) generated by web servers and replaces them with its own messages that offer more information as well as possible solutions to the problem.
If you clear this option, Internet Explorer simply displays the error message generated by the web server. However, we recommend clearing this option because web server error messages are often customized to be more useful than the generic messages reported by Internet Explorer.
18. Display friendly URLs
This checkbox determines how URLs appear in the status bar when you hover over a link or image map. Select this checkbox to see only the filename of the linked page; clear this checkbox to see the full URL of the linked page.
We prefer to see the full URL so we know exactly where a link will take us (especially if the link takes us to a different site).
19. Show Go button in address bar
When this check box is selected, Internet Explorer adds a button Ir to the right of the address bar. Click this button to open any URL displayed in the address bar. The usefulness of this button is dubious (it's usually easier to press Enter after entering an address), but it does no harm.
20. Underline links
Use these advanced Internet options to specify when Internet Explorer should forma tear web page links with an underline. The option Hover means that the underline appears only when you place the mouse pointer over the link. Many websites use colored text, so it is often difficult to recognize a link without underlining. Therefore, we recommend that you select the option Always.
21. Use Autocomplete online
This checkbox Turn AutoComplete on and off “inline” in the address bar. When Inline AutoComplete is turned on, Internet Explorer monitors the text you type in the address bar. If your text matches a previously typed URL, Internet Explorer automatically completes the address by displaying the matching URL in the address bar.
It also displays a drop-down list of other matching URLs. When Inline AutoComplete is disabled, Internet Explorer only displays the drop-down list of matching URLs.
Nota: If you want to prevent Internet Explorer from displaying the drop-down list of matching URLs, select Tools, then go Internet Options and then click on the button Autocomplete of the tab Content to show the dialog Configuration AutoComplete. Clear the check box Web addresses.
Also note that Internet Explorer's AutoComplete feature also applies to web forms. That is, AutoComplete can also remember data you've entered into a form, including usernames and passwords, and then automatically enter that data when you use the form again.
You can control this part of the Autocomplete web form using the other checkboxes in the section Using Autocomplete for the dialog box Autofill Settings.
22. Use passive FTP (for firewall and DSL modem compatibility)
In a normal FTP session, Internet Explorer opens one connection to the FTP server (for commands) and then the FTP server opens a second connection to the browser (for data). However, if you are on a network behind a firewall, incoming connections from a server are not allowed.
With passive FTP, The browser establishes the second connection (data) by itself. So if you are on a firewalled network (or using a DSL modem) and cannot establish an FTP connection, select this check box.
23. Use smooth scrolling
This check box turns on and off a feature called smooth scrolling. When you select this check box to enable smooth scrolling, pressing Page Down o Page Up you make the page scroll down or up at a preset speed.
If you clear this checkbox, when you press Page Down or Page Up, the page jumps instantly down or up. When reading a web page, you can scroll down one screen by pressing the space bar. To scroll up a full screen, press Shift+Spacebar.
You may want to know: How to Increase Internet Speed in Windows
Checkboxes in the branch HTTP 1.1 Configuration
Determine whether Internet Explorer uses the HTTP 1.1 protocol.
1. Use HTTP 1.1
This check box toggles Internet Explorer's use of HTTP 1.1 to communicate with web servers. (HTTP 1.1 is the standard protocol currently used on the web.) You should clear this check box in the advanced internet options only if you are having trouble connecting to a website. This tells Internet Explorer to use HTTP 1.0, which may resolve the problem.
2. Using HTTP 1.1 through proxy connections
This check box enables or disables the use of HTTP 1.1 only when connecting through a proxy server.
Checkboxes in the Microsoft VM branch
They are related to the Internet Explorer Java virtual machine:
1. Java Console enabled (requires restart)
This check box enables and disables the Java console. The Java console is a separate window which displays the output and error messages from a Java applet. If you select this option (which requires you to restart Internet Explorer), you can view the Java console by selecting the command View, Java consoleYou should only need to use the Java console if you are debugging a Java application.
2. Java logging enabled
This checkbox Enable and disable Internet Explorer Java login. When enabled, Internet Explorer logs Java applet error messages to a file called Javalog.txt in the folder %SystemRoot%\Java. This is useful for troubleshooting Java issues.
3. JIT compiler for virtual machine enabled (requires reboot)
This checkbox Enables and disables the internal Java compiler Internet Explorer's "just-in-time" compiler. This compiler is used to compile and run Java applets using native Windows code.
In many cases, this causes the Java applet to run much faster than regularly compiled code. However, it may break some applets or cause them to run slower than normal. You must restart Internet Explorer if you change this setting.
The Multimedia branch of the advanced Internet options
Activate and deactivate various multimedia effects:
1. Do not display inline media content in the media bar
If you select this check box, Internet Explorer does not display online media content (such as streaming audio or video) in the media toolbar. Instead, it plays content from the application associated with the media file type (such as Windows Media Player).
Using the dedicated media app usually gives you more options for playing media, so we recommend selecting this option.
2. Enable automatic image resizing
If you select this check box, Internet Explorer automatically scales large images down to fit within the browser window. This is useful if you're running Windows with a small monitor or a relatively low resolution, and you find that many images on websites don't fit completely in the browser window.
Tip: if selected Enable automatic image resizing, you can restore an image to its normal size by first hovering the mouse pointer over the image.
After a couple of seconds, Internet Explorer displays the image auto-resize icon in the lower right corner of the image. Click that icon to expand the image to its normal size.
3. Enable Image Toolbar (requires restart)
When this check box is selected and you hover your mouse pointer over an image, Internet Explorer displays a toolbar in the upper-left corner of the image. You can use this toolbar to save or print the image, send the image by email, or open the folder My images.
4. Play animations on web pages
This checkbox Turn animated GIF images on and off. Most animated GIFs are unwanted annoyances, so you will probably greatly improve your browsing experience by disabling this checkbox. If you disable this option and want to see an animation, right-click the animation icon on the image and then select Show image.
5. Play sounds on web pages
This checkbox turns on and off the sound effects on the website. Since the vast majority of sounds on websites are extremely bad MIDI renditions of popular tunes, turning off the sounds will save your ears.
6. Play videos on web pages
This checkbox turns Internet Explorer's support for online AVI files on and off. If you disable this setting, the only way to view a video is to turn the option back on and then refresh the page.
7. Show image download placeholders
If you select this check box, Internet Explorer displays a box that is the same size and shape as the image you are downloading.
8. Show images
This check box turns images on and off on the web page. If you are using a slow connection, uncheck this option and Internet Explorer will display only a box where the image would normally appear. (If the designer has included alternative text, that text will appear inside the box.) If you want to see an image, right-click the box and then select Show image.
9. Intelligent Image Dithering
This checkbox Turns image dithering on and offDithering is a technique that slightly alters an image to make jagged edges appear smooth. In the Printing branch, the Print background images and colors check box determines whether Internet Explorer includes the page background when you print it.
Many web pages use solid colors or fancy images as backgrounds, so you'll print these pages faster if you leave this setting disabled.
Branch search for advanced internet options
The options in the branch Search from the address bar control the search in the Internet Explorer address bar:
1. Show results and go to the most likely site
Select this option to display search engine results in the search bar and show the best match in the main browser window.
2. Do not search from the address bar
Select this option to disable searching in the address bar.
3. Simply display the results in the main window
Select this option to display a list of sites you found in the search engine in the main browser window.
4. Go to the most likely site
Select this option to display the search engine's best match in the main browser window.
Add an Advanced Tab to Internet Options via Local Group Policy Editor
Follow the procedure below:
- Step 1: Open all users, specific users or groups, or exclude the Local Group Policy Editor.
- Step 2: go to the left panel, press the option Expand User Settings, Administrative Templates, Windows components, Internet Explorer y Internet Control Panel.
- Step 3: In the right pane, right-click on Disable the Advanced page and press the option Edit.
- Step 4: to add a advanced tab to internet options:
- Select the point Not configured o Disabled.
- Go to step 6.
- Step 5: to remove the Advanced tab from Internet Options.
- Select option Able.
- Step 6: press the option Accept.
- Step 7: close the window of the Local Group Policy Editor.
- Step 8: close and reopen Internet Options if it is already open.
Take a look at: Internet Keeps Disconnecting. Causes And Solutions
Final thoughts
We have seen some of the advanced Internet options and their functions. The Security branch has many options related to Internet Explorer security, but we will leave them for another section. You can «mark» the version of Internet Explorer setting a custom window title, custom browser logo, and custom toolbar buttons.
You can do all this through the Group Policy Editor. Run the program and select User Configuration, Windows Settings, Internet Explorer Maintenance, and Browser User Interface. Use the Browser Title, Custom Logo, and Browser Toolbar customizations settings to make customizations.
My name is Javier Chirinos and I am passionate about technology. Ever since I can remember, I have been interested in computers and video games, and that passion has turned into a job.
I have been publishing about technology and gadgets on the Internet for over 15 years, especially in mundobytes.com
I am also an expert in online marketing and communication and have knowledge in WordPress development.