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How to speed up Internet Explorer

James Thornton

James Thornton

  • Updated:

Give IE a nudgeIn terms of its features and functionality, Internet Explorer 7 is probably the greatest version of the Microsoft browser ever. Unfortunately the side effect is that it’s a tad slower at browsing web pages. Luckily though, there are a few little performance tweaks you can make to crank up the pace.

Start by turning off the Phishing filter. This feature is designed to protect you from scams and dubious sites that purport to be legitimate. It’s a worthy cause of course, but, for me, the lag in performance that the Phishing filter causes makes it worth taking a risk and turning the thing off. To do this go to ‘Tools’, select ‘Phishing Filter’, and check the radio button that turns off the feature.

Another IE element reported to significantly slow down your browsing is the SSVHelper Class plug-in, a file which is part of the Java plug-in. It’s a non-essential item though, so you’re probably best off without it. To disable the plug-in, go to ‘Tools’, ‘Manage Add-ons’, ‘Enable or Disable Add-ons’ then select the SSVHelper Class line and click on ‘OK’.

If you’re still not satisfied with the browsing speed then you can dive under the hood of Internet Explorer and tinker with some Registry settings. There are a few changes you can make, but perhaps the most effective is the one described in the video below, which increases the number of simultaneous web server connection the browser makes. Give it a try, but remember to take care whenever messing around in the Registry or you’ll have bigger problems than just a tardy browser!

[youtube]VjM2CwrBX0g[/youtube]

James Thornton

James Thornton

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