Thorny problem resolved

[theoldwolf]

Every now and then you get a rock in your shoe or a burr under your saddle that just stays there because you don't have time to take care of it. For the last 6 months, I've been blocked from changing Internet Options from within IE 7... and no idea what munged the settings in the first place.

Today I found the answer on a 5-year-old forum post:

1. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Restrictions
2. Change value of "NoBrowserOptions" from 1 to 0
3. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Control Panel
4. Change value of "Homepage" from 1 to 0. (This un-grays the home page field)

I use Firefox almost exclusively, which is why I didn't really take the time to go fix it long ago, but I have to fire up IE now and then when I'm designing web pages to check how things display over there.


Small problem, but what a relief to have it fixed. Like getting that little rock out of your shoe...

Comments

[stevenroy.livejournal.com]

I find that somewhat suspicious. Settings like that don't change from 0 to 1 for no reason. If it happens again (or if weirder things happen), some thorough virus scanning (with both your existing protection and with a tool like this one) might be in order.

[ccdesan.livejournal.com]

Indeed, thanks for the tip. I practice safe computing - I have more layers of latex around my portal than... well, bad analogy, but let's just say I'm about as protected as is humanly possible.
But I'll keep that in mind.