8 top tips for IE 7

Must-try tips, tricks and hacks for getting the most out of Microsoft's latest browser

Here's how to do it:

  1. Run the Registry Editor by typing regedit at a command line or in the Windows Vista Start Search box.
  2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft
    \Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings.
  3. Choose Edit --> New --> DWORD Value.
  4. Create a new DWORD value called MaxConnectionsPer1_0Server, and give it a value of 10.
  5. Choose Edit --> New --> DWORD Value, create another DWORD value called MaxConnectionsPerServer, and give it a value of 10. (Note: If you want to experiment with fewer or more than 10 simultaneous connections, change the value in both DWORD values accordingly.)
  6. Exit the Registry and close IE. When you restart IE, the new value will be in effect and your Web browsing should speed up.

3. Get multiple tabs under control

Anyone who's tried tabbed browsing knows it's vastly superior to the old way of browsing, with a separate window for each Web site you're looking at. But once you get going, it's easy to get lost in a sea of tabs. IE 7 includes a couple of shortcuts to help you find the right tab easily. To see a grid of thumbnails of all your open tabs, click the Quick Tabs button that appears to the left of the tabs. Or to see a drop-down list of all the open tabs, click the Tab List button (it looks like a down arrow) immediately to the right of the Quick Tabs button.

Want to close all the tabs you have open except the one you're currently on? It's simple. Just right-click the tab you want to keep open and choose Close Other Tabs from the pop-up menu.

Finally, what about that annoying "Do you want to close all tabs?" warning that pops up whenever you try to shut down IE with multiple tabs open? It's easy to make that warning vanish forever. Next time you see it pop up, click Show Options, check the box marked Do not show me this dialog again and click the Close Tabs button. Or to take care of this now without waiting until the next time you exit IE with multiple tabs open, follow these steps:

  1. Click the Tools button and select Internet Options.
  2. From the dialog box that appears, click the General tab and then click Settings in the Tabs section.
  3. From the screen that appears (shown to the right), uncheck the box next to Warn me when closing multiple tabs.
  4. Click OK and OK again. The warning will no longer appear.

4. Tweak your way to better printing with IE

IE 7 gives you a great deal of control over how your Web pages print, including whether to print a header or footer, what to put in the header and footer, whether to print thumbnails of Web pages and more.

Changing printing options is simple. Click the down arrow next to the printer icon at the top of IE and choose Print Preview. A screen like the one shown in the illustrations appears.Icons across the top of the page control how the page will print. They're straightforward and self-explanatory, and include options such as printing in landscape or portrait mode, shrinking the printout so it fits nicely on the sheet of paper, and controlling whether headers and footers appear on the printout.

For example, to turn headers and footers on and off, click the fifth icon from the left, or press Alt-E. The preview display will change to reflect whether the headers and footers will print. Click the printer icon on the page when you've got the page set up however you want.

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