Resolving Issues Related to Customizing Internet Explorer You customize Internet Explorer by using the Internet Options dialog box. This dialog box is your central location for the majority of customization in the Internet Explorer.  | Make sure you are familiar with the different ways to resolve issues related to Internet Explorer. |
Home Page Error The Home Page section on the General tab contains the default Web site you want loaded whenever you launch Internet Explorer. When a user's default home page has been changed, the user typically wants to know what happened . To modify the home page, type the new address in the Address text box. The next time Internet Explorer is opened, the requested home page is displayed. Decreased Performance A user may complain about decreased performance if the size of the Temporary Internet Files folder is set too high or too low. If the size is set unnecessarily high, the folder may fill the hard drive with outdated information. You can enter a lower number for the maximum Temporary Internet Files folder size. When the maximum size is reached, the older files are removed as needed. On the other hand, you do not want to set the maximum size too low because Internet Explorer can load Web sites from within this folder significantly faster than it would if it had to re-download the site by downloading it from the Internet. You can adjust this setting from the General tab of the Internet Options dialog box. Click the Settings button and type the new maximum size for the Temporary Internet files folder. If the user's maximum folder size is reasonable but the folder is located on a drive that is becoming full, the solution is to move the folder to an alternate drive. To be able to maintain the folder size, you can use the Move Folder button on the Settings dialog box to change the location of the Temporary Internet Files folder to a different drive. Privacy Requests When users over-customize their privacy settings, you may receive requests to reduce the number of prompts to allow cookies. Some sites use cookies to keep track of details from one area to another, to let you view pages without re-entering a password. Other sites might contain scripts that allow the site to greet you by name whenever you visit. Other sites use cookies for market research, to log what information you look at and what advertisements you click. If a user has used configured Prompt setting to indicate when a Web site is trying to copy cookies to his system, the prompts that a user receives when browsing the Internet can easily become excessive. To access the Advanced Privacy settings, click the Advanced button on the Privacy tab of the Internet Options dialog box. You can then change the way cookies are handled. For example, you may want to accept First-party cookies but block Third-party cookies. Another common problem that a user may report is not being able to utilize the customized features to frequently used Web sites. Some of the features are automatic logins, welcome screens, and local news and weather. To resolve this problem, you should lower the user's privacy setting. Restricted Access to Web Sites If a user complains about Web sites not appearing properly and messages popping up as the site is trying to load, the Security setting is probably set to high. If your company permits the adjustment of this setting, the user can eliminate the messages and view the site as it was originally designed. If the security settings are set too high, Java and ActiveX controls do not to load. Connection Problems Sometimes troubleshooting connectivity problems can be interesting during a help desk call. It is important to verify network connectivity first. A quick way to verify is to ensure that the user is not viewing a cached page or part of the company's intranet. Always verify that the user is not working offline. When users have portable computers, they may also have two hardware profiles. In this case, ensure the user has logged in using her office profile versus her roaming or home profile. After you have verified that the user has her network card enabled, you can check to see whether she has access to other network resources, such as mapped drives and email. When you are confident that the user has access to other company resources, check to see that the LAN settings are configured appropriately. You can verify the LAN settings from the Connections tab of the Internet Options dialog box. Have the user click the LAN Settings button. | 