Everyone wants to surf the Internet quickly and safely. To enjoy this and not have problems, it is necessary to control a series of aspects such as temporary files, the default browser, the use of cookies, security and privacy, as well as access to certain web pages. We can manage all these things and some more from the Windows Internet Options.
A large part of the users of this operating system hardly pay attention to this. There are even many who do not even know where the menu to handle these types of settings is located. However, it is something that anyone who surfs the Internet on a regular basis should know.
There is a specific route on the computer to access the Internet options in Windows. With them you can modify or configure any feature of Internet Explorer, which is the browser that comes installed by default. Although the appearance of these options may be different depending on the version of Windows, the path is always the same. There are two paths:
- The first, the easiest, is to go to "Start"then to "Control Panel" and there to choose "Internet Options".
- The second access mode is to right click on the network icon (we find it in the lower right corner of the computer screen) and from there go to “Open Network and Sharing Center” and then "Internet Options".
Both methods are valid for versions of Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10.
Next we are going to see what are the options that we have in each of the seven tabs in which the Windows Internet Options are organized:
General admission
This is the main tab of the Internet Options Control Panel. From there we can control the most basic aspects such as setting the home page or changing the appearance of the browser. It's divided in five sections:
- Homepage. To configure the browser home page, the one that is displayed on the screen every time we access the browser. In most cases, Microsoft's or Google's appears by default. If we want to change it, we only have to write the URL of the site and click on the “Apply” button.
- Home. To decide how the browser will open in each new session: continue with the last exploration or open with the start page. Just select one of the two options.
- Tabs. It offers a submenu with many options (see image above) to display Internet Explorer tabs.
- Exploration history. Here you can perform various actions such as deleting browsing history and many others, as we also show in the image above.
- Appearance. To modify the color, font, language and accessibility.
Security
In this section we can configure the security level of Internet Explorer. We find four different categories to establish our classification:
- Restricted Sites.
- Trusted sites.
- Internet.
- Internet.
At the bottom there is a measurer that allows us to establish the degree of protection for each of the options in the previous list. This is not a minor issue, as it concerns the security and privacy of our personal or confidential data. This is precisely what concerns us in the following section:
Privacy
This is probably one of the reasons why everyone should be interested in how to access Windows Internet and Options. For example, from the Privacy menu we will be able to block unwanted websites (for example, websites with violent or pornographic content if we have children at home with access to the computer).
Another possibility offered by this tab is the control over cookies, which in the long run can affect the storage capacity and the proper functioning of our equipment.
Contents
This is the section of the Internet Options in Windows in which we are going to be able to configure some important aspects such as child protection or the installation of certificates to certain websites, as it will help us access websites that have an encrypted connection.
Another feature that we will be able to manage from this tab is the setting of the function "Autocomplete", to decide where and for what it should be used and where not. The last option in this menu is “Fonts and Web Slices”, which can also be configured according to the preferences of each user.
Local
This is another of the most useful sections, since it is the one that determines the system configuration for your Internet connection. In addition to connections to a local area network or portable routers, it also offers the option of adding a proxy server and even an Internet service. VPN.
Programs
In the "Programs" section we will be able to install or configure programs or plug-ins within the browser in order to improve some tasks. To cite some examples, we will highlight the selection of programs for checking email, editing HTML formats or the ability to associate files or files that you want to open by default in Internet Explorer, among others.
Advanced Options
In our review of Internet Options in Windows, it's worth finally taking a look at the Advanced Options menu. There, among other possibilities, you can configure some other interesting options such as the HTTP protocol or graphics.
In summary, and despite the fact that the changes in this options menu only apply to the default Windows explorer (Internet Explorer), they offer many interesting options that we can adjust to enjoy safe web browsing.