Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Last week's eTip told you about some of Windows XP Service Pack 2's new ability to stop Web sites from sneaking software onto your computer. But unfortunately, Internet Explorer can't tell the good downloads from the bad, leaving the burden of proof to you. But if you see a message that Internet Explorer has blocked a program and you haven't requested a download, chances are the site's trying to harm you: Don't try to thwart the warning and download the add-on or ActiveX program.
If a bad add-on creeps in somehow, you're not completely out of luck. Internet Explorer's Add-on Manager lets you disable it. To see all the add-on programs installed in Internet Explorer (and remove any that you know are bad), follow these steps:
Choose Manage Add-ons from Internet Explorer's Tools menu. The Manage Add-ons window appears, showing all add-ons used by the currently viewed page.
Click the Add-on that gives you trouble and choose Disable.
Repeat the process for each add-on you don't want and then click the OK button. You probably need to restart Internet Explorer for the change to take effect.
Not all add-ons are bad. Many good ones let you play movies, hear sounds, or view special content on a Web site. Don't delete an add-on simply because it's listed in the Add-on Manager.
On the rare instance that disabling an add-on prevents a page from loading, click that add-on's name in Step 2 of the preceding steps and click the Enable button to return it to working order.
Although Internet Explorer's Add-on Manager disables add-ons fairly easily, it's quite difficult to remove them entirely. Look for the add-on's name in your Control Panel's Add or Remove Programs area. If it's listed, you can remove it just like any other program.
How the heck do you tell the good add-ons from the bad? Unfortunately, there's no sure way of telling, although the name listed under Publisher provides one clue. The best way is to avoid being hijacked in the first place, mainly by not installing things Internet Explorer has tried to block.
If a bad add-on creeps in somehow, you're not completely out of luck. Internet Explorer's Add-on Manager lets you disable it. To see all the add-on programs installed in Internet Explorer (and remove any that you know are bad), follow these steps:
Choose Manage Add-ons from Internet Explorer's Tools menu. The Manage Add-ons window appears, showing all add-ons used by the currently viewed page.
Click the Add-on that gives you trouble and choose Disable.
Repeat the process for each add-on you don't want and then click the OK button. You probably need to restart Internet Explorer for the change to take effect.
Not all add-ons are bad. Many good ones let you play movies, hear sounds, or view special content on a Web site. Don't delete an add-on simply because it's listed in the Add-on Manager.
On the rare instance that disabling an add-on prevents a page from loading, click that add-on's name in Step 2 of the preceding steps and click the Enable button to return it to working order.
Although Internet Explorer's Add-on Manager disables add-ons fairly easily, it's quite difficult to remove them entirely. Look for the add-on's name in your Control Panel's Add or Remove Programs area. If it's listed, you can remove it just like any other program.
How the heck do you tell the good add-ons from the bad? Unfortunately, there's no sure way of telling, although the name listed under Publisher provides one clue. The best way is to avoid being hijacked in the first place, mainly by not installing things Internet Explorer has tried to block.
