Speed Up Internet Explorer 8

If you were selecting your browser based on speed only, it's highly improbable that Microsoft's Internet Explorer 8 would get much of a prospect. But if you've plumped for IE8 for other reasons, you don't have to put up with the worst of its speed-related issues. Here, we will discuss a few tips to improve its performance.

1. Internet Explorer can be enhanced using extensions, but these can also slow down the program. Click Tools, Manage Add-ons and browse through the list of ‘Toolbars and Extensions’. From the list, select any extensions you no longer need and click the Disable button.
2. Before closing the Manage Add-ons window, click the Search Providers link. Select any search engines you don't want from the list on the right and click Remove. Hit the Accelerators link and click any accelerators you don't use. Click the Remove button, and then click Close.
3. Disabling Internet Explorer 8’s ‘Feeds and Web Slices’ features can also help to speed things up. Click Tools and then Internet Options. Go to the Content tab and click the Settings button. In the window that appears, untick all the boxes.
4. Internet Explorer stores elements of visited websites on the hard disk and checks for updates. To disable this, click Tools, then Internet Options. Go to the General tab and click Settings in the ‘Browsing history’ section. In the next window that opens, select Never and click OK.
5. Some IE8 users have reported that the following works: in XP, press the Windows key, then the letter R. Type 'cmd' and Enter. In Vista or Windows 7, go to Start, type 'cmd', right-click 'cmd' in the menu, select "Run as administrator". Type regsvr32 actxprxy.dll', press Enter and restart Windows.
6. Set IE to always save the latest version of a web page, so you can get there quicker next time. Select Tools, Internet Options and the General tab. Click Settings in ‘Browsing history'. Select 'Every time I visit the webpage’. You can increase the reserved storage space up to 250MB.
By: Francis David