Issue: You may see “Download Windows Search to improve history and favorites results” message while entering the website address as shown in the below screen shot:

Cause: This is not an issue and is by design. You may proceed with the download and install Windows Search. If you don’t want to install the Windows search, you may proceed with the solution provided below. However, when you install the Windows search, it will remove the prompt in a week days.

Solution: To remove the “Download Windows Search” Prompt, you have to modify the registry. The following steps will guide you modifying the same.

However, it is always recommended to backup the Windows registry before making any changes as incorrect changes may cause stability to the Operating system and you may need to reinstall the Operating system.

• Click Start, type Regedit.exe and press ENTER
• Navigate to the following registry path:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER Software Microsoft Internet Explorer Main WindowsSearch

• Right-click in the right pane and select New option.
• Select REG_DWORD value and name it as ShowPrompt
• Click OK which will default the value to 0.
• Exit the Registry Editor.
• Reopen Internet Explorer.

If you still see the prompt, perform the following:

Go to registry editor and navigate to the following path:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft Windows Search

• Right-click in the right pane and select New.
• Create a new String (REG_SZ) value and name it as CurrentVersion
• Double-click CurrentVersion and set its value data to 4.0
• Exit the Registry Editor.
• Reopen the Internet Explorer.

This will resolve the issue.

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Description: I myself like the new IE8 feature, InPrivate Browsing. However, InPrivate browsing doesn’t inherit the properties of the default browsing and doesn’t open my default home page. I am baffled to see About:InPrivate page when I open a new session.

The following tweak helped me to set a default home page for InPrivate browsing too

Procedure:

1. Click Start, Run.
2. Type regedit.
3. Navigate to the below registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\AboutURLs

4. Double-click InPrivate option and set your favorite URL.

5. Exit the registry.

For those who are not good at registry modification, I’ve created a .reg file. You may download and run the .reg file [Download Link]. However, this defaults to www.ietips.net website. If you wish to change it, right-click the .reg file and change the URL with the URL you wish to change.

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Issue

IE8 doesn’t remember the “Save As..” Location and it has to be selected  every time while opening a new tab also.

Cause

This is by design and unlike in other browsers you may not be able to set a default location.

Resolution

To resolve the issue, you have to create a new registry entry. I’ve created a .reg file to make this process ease.

However, it is recommended to take a backup of the Windows registry before making any modifications. This will help you to restore the registry incase of any issues.

Also, read the readme.txt file before applying the solution.

Download the fix

Now your IE will remember the Save As.. Location.

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Issue

New tab doesn’t open the homepage that was set.

Cause

This is not an issue and is by design. When you open a new tab, IE will not open the home page that was set. However, this can be achieved by changing the a small option.

Resolution

To set a homepage for all the tabs that you open, perform the following:

1. Click Tools, Internet Options.
2. Click Settings button, under Tabs option.

3. Under “When a new tab is opened, open:” option, select “Your first home page”.

4. Click OK.
5. Click OK.

This will resolve the issue.

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Description - You may want to create a shortcut key to open your favorite website with a shortcut key.  This is possible by assigning a short cut key to the saved favorite.

Applies to - Tested on IE 6.x and later versions.

Procedure:

1. Open Internet Explorer

2. Right-click on the saved Favorite.

3. Select Properties.

4. Click in the Shortcut key text box (Where it shows none) and press the key that you want to use as shortcut:

Once the shortcut key is assigned, the Shortcut key area should look like as follows:

Click Apply, Ok.

Now you will be able to open the website using the shortcut key that was assigned.

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