Use RepairIE to tweak, lock down, and fix Internet Explorer

Fire up the half-megabyte, portable RepairIE and you're presented with five tabs to help make administering Internet Explorer an uncomplicated process.

Configuration options are broken down into appearance, features, network connections, search, and security. To change a yes/no option, simply double click it and confirm your action.

RepairIE provides an incredible number of options for configuring not only the Internet Exlporer interface, but its options menu as well. For starters, you can restrict your users from altering the homepage or toolbars, prevent them from downloading files, and disable access to file URLs.


There are also numerous options for limiting access to the tools -> internet options menu. Any or all of the tabs can be hidden, changes can be prevented to history, temp files, home page, search - and just about everything else. Messenger integration can also be disabled, as can the Internet Connection wizard. For a more detailed listing, pay a visit to the developer's site.

I was disappointed, however, that the content advisor reset didn't work on my IE7 install. People forgetting their password is a fairly common problem, so I was hoping this feature would be able to get the job done.

Since RepairIE is altering registry settings, it would also be nice if it included an option to back up and restore affected keys. I'd also like to be able to save settings to make modifcations on multiple machines easier.

Despite its shortcomings, RepairIE is still a good, free option for preventing IE-related headaches on a small network at home or work.

[ via gHacks ]

Tags: administration, annoyances, browsers, freeware, internet explorer, InternetExplorer, repair