Hardening IE 7.0

wexmary · 6th December 2006

In the Infinisource article, How To Surf Safekly Using IE 7.0, is the info reliable?

I ask that because after following their suggestions, WindowsUpdate stopped working. Messages that ActiveX controls have to be changed or that site has to be added to trusted sites. But when I reset all settings to default, problem disappears. So there is something in these setting changes that is wrong.

I use Firefox and Netscape. But there are sites that only take IE.

Suggestions?

**Admin.** · 6th December 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by wexmary

I ask that because after following their suggestions, WindowsUpdate stopped working. Messages that ActiveX controls have to be changed or that site has to be added to trusted sites.

Of course it did. I didn't write this for noting:

Quote:

Now this will have an impact on Web sites you visit. If you want to be able to run ActiveX or Scripting on certain Web sites, just add them to the Trusted sites zone. You can add Web sites by selecting the Trusted sites icon, and pressing the Sites button (once you are in Internet Explorer's Security Internet Options). Note that by default, you can only add secure sites here (sites using https), just uncheck the Require server verification (https:) for all sites in this zone, and you can add any site.

wexmary · 6th December 2006

With the multiplicity of apps I support and the documentation I write as part of my job, I DID add the sites to the trusted ones. I also know from long years of experience going back to Windows 286 that Microsoft error messages are not necessarily the most accurate things around.

I doublechecked my IE trusted sites, they are
http://*.windowsupdate.com
http://download.windowsupdate.com
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com
https://*.windowsupdate.microsoft.com

And I got this from the paid WindowsSecrets - Brian Livingston newsletter that I and 265,000 people subscribe to. While Trusted Sites are mentioned, the specific sites are not. The above came from Microsoft's error messages.

I wound up adding http://update.microsoft.com to Trusted Sites and that did it.

**Rockster2U** · 7th December 2006

wexmary:

Just in case you missed it - I trust you also noticed within the last month or two, the tribute that Brian Livingston paid to Arie re: His expertise with Internet Explorer and the commentary he wrote.

wexmary · 7th December 2006

IMHO, adding http://windowsupdate.com to the Trusted Sites domain of IE 7.0 should have been mentioned to the article.