Computer Safety

This post is not going to receive the time and attention it deserves right now, so I will try to follow up with more information later. But I wanted to at least get this out there.

Have you been prompted to upgrade your internet browser to IE 8? If you have, and if you've upgraded, you may have noticed a new feature called "InPrivate Browsing". Basically, what this does is prevent any of your cookies, browsing history, etc. to NOT be stored. So no matter what is searched on your computer, no one would ever know.

I don't have teenagers, but I do know the dangers of the internet and the filth that is available out there. And now the internet provides a way for anyone to search whatever they want in complete secret. You cannot search browsing history or cookies to find out what has been visited on your computer.

This is seriously alarming to me. I think it is a terrible thing and I cannot come up with a single reason why this is possibly a good thing. It is not. It is dangerous and it only provides more incentive for deceit and perversion.

Thankfully, there is something you can do about it. First, don't upgrade to IE8. But if you love IE8 or don't want to uninstall it, then you can disable InPrivate Browsing. I have Windows 7 (also works for Vista), so I followed these steps:

1) To take back up of registry:

1. Click on Start.

2. Click on Run and in the run box please type regedit and press Ok. This will open the Registry editor.

3. Click onFile and then select Export.

(a) Select desktop as the location (for easy location if we want to undo the registry changes).

(b) Type backup in the File name field

(c) In theexport range select All

(d) ClickSave.

NOTE: In case we need to undo the modification, we can double click this backup file to restore the registry key.

2) To disable Inprivate browsing

1. Click onStart> All Programs> Accessories> Notepad.

2. Copy the text below and paste it into notepad

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Privacy]

"EnableInPrivateBrowsing"=dword:00000000

3. Click onFile and click on save. Choose to save it on thedesktop. In the filename field enter DisableInPrivateBrowsing.reg and click onSave.

4. Double click the newly create registration entries file to incorporate the changes in the registry and effectively disable In Private Browsing.

Or, if you have Windows XP Pro or other operating systems, try this:

1. ClickStart then click Run.

2. Typegpedit.msc and press Ok.

3. Go toUser Configuration > Administrative Templates >Windows Components >Internet Explorer > InPrivate

4. Here you will see the optionTurn off InPrivate Browsing
Double click the policy and set to Enabled to disable InPrivate Browsing.

5. Close the Group Policy window and open IE8 to check if it is disabled.

I hope it works for you. In the meantime, make sure you have your parental controls set. There is nothing that is worth the 5 seconds it takes for filth to infiltrate your family, so take the steps now to do all you can to prevent it from coming in thru your own computer.