Optimize Internet Explorer 9

Internet Explorer 9 has a lot of improvements over earlier IE versions. But there are also more restrictions in the GUI, as a result of the effort to maximize the usable browsing area. A process that was started by Chrome and is now followed by Internet Explorer.

If you don’t care about maximizing your viewing area and want the menubar or status bar back, there is an easy way to customize IE9 to your liking. The application to optimize IE9 is called TweakIE9, and can be downloaded for free online.

After you download the ZIP file, extract the program and run it. The installer will check for the presence of IE9, and then show you the user interface.

There are obviously a lot of tweaks possible, some are also possible in a different way, but TweakIE9 gives you access to all kinds of settings for Internet Explorer 9 in an easy way.

Options can simply be toggled by clicking the gray pin (off) or the blue pin (on).

Also check out the option to configure the maximum number of downloads, which allows you to increase the number of parallel downloads in IE, which can help increase the download speed.

Take let the changes take effect, click the Tweak IE9 now button. The program will ask you if you want to create a system restore point, which is always a good thing if you make changes to your system configuration.

And best of all, there is a Restore IE9 button that brings everything back to the default! So no risk in playing with the settings or making a mistake.

To tun the program again, simply execute the program from the extracted ZIP again. This time the GUI will show up immediately, without the EULA and the IE9 check.