Internet Explorer, every since Windows 98 was launched Microsoft has made us believe that this is something that Windows cannot live without, be it Windows 2000 or Windows 98 Second Edition – Internet Explorer is already installed with it. Whether or not it is essential is not what I’m going to talk about, I’m just here to show you how you can tweak this.

This guide has been prepared in Windows 2000 & Millennium Edition using Internet Explore 5.5 SP1, although if you have an earlier version installed don’t worry as the vast majority of this guide can be applied to pretty much every version of Internet Explorer 4.0 or greater.

Update

Internet Explorer is one of the most regularly updated Applications around. These updates generally take the form of security patches however & as such it’s in your best interests to get these patches.

You can check our OS Updates page to find the latest & most important system updates, including links to the latest versions of Internet Explorer & any available updates/security patches for it. You can also use Windowsupdate, CNET Catchup or ZDNet Updates to check whether your system has the latest version of IE & any other updates installed for it.

Troubleshooting

This is related to the previous section in many ways. Basically, download the latest version of Internet Explorer (As Microsoft do not support versions of Internet Explorer earlier than 5.0 anymore, nor will they release security patches for them as a result), this will give you all the latest updates (security/bug fixes & others) all in one browser without the need to download multiple patches for your current browser.

Although if you do wish to stick with your existing, earlier version of Internet Explorer then the 3 sites mentioned earlier will be able to detect any security/other updates you need to install. There’s also the Microsoft Technet bulletins.

Another problem that can be cause is that related to advert.dll, installed by many Adware programs. Should you ever find Internet Explorer crashing when you try load it, simply search for this file & rename/delete it. To remove Adware altogether (Highly recommended, although be wary as it may break some programs that require it), download Optout from GRC. This can clean your system of known Adware which in many cases can make your browser more stable.

Should you find these few tips fail you try the following. Click on Start, Settings, Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs. Double click Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 SP1 and Tools (Select your version number/name as appropriate).

Go to next page !