What happens when you install spurious add-ons, incompatible browser extensions, spyware or malware to your computer – Internet Explorer may become unusable or crash repeatedly. A new feature in Internet Explorer 7 and 7+ lets you perform a one click restore using Reset Internet Explorer Settings (RIES).
IE blog introduces the RIES feature –
“Internet Explorer 7 for Windows XP and 7+ in Windows Vista have many security enhancements which make Internet Explorer less susceptible to spyware and malware. But still browsing experience in Internet Explorer can get affected by badly written add-ons. This feature allows Internet Explorer to recover from such situations.
After RIES is run, the user will notice default settings of Home Pages, Search Scopes, Browsing History, Form Data, Passwords, Appearance Settings, Toolbars, and ActiveX controls.
To invoke RIES from IE7 and IE7+, go to Tools Menu, Internet Options, Advanced Tab and click on Reset… button. If Internet Explorer is in a state where it cannot be started, one can get to RIES from Internet Options in Control Panel.”
Wondering what is IE 7+? RIES resets all the user customizations from IE7. It disables all toolbars, Browser extensions and Customizations installed by the user and you need to selectively enable them. It clears Temporary Internet Files, Cookies, Browsing History, Form data, passwords and auto-complete data. You need to approve running specific ActiveX controls again. RIES does not clear Favorites and Feeds and does not reset Connection settings. RIES does not affect Group Policy settings. Administrators can reset Internet Explorer settings of all users by running RIES with admin privileges. It reapplies Manufacturer Settings and restores Internet Explorer customizations applied by the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) or via IEAK (Internet Explorer Administrative Kit).