STOP the IE7 Get it now Offer

In ten years Microsoft’s Internet Explorer (IE) web browser market share has dropped from 92% to 82%. (CNET)


Could it be from tactics like the following?

A few unlucky souls who did not upgrade from IE6 to IE7 are plagued with an IE7 “Get it now” Home page or browser Hijack. While this in no way impacts IE’s ability to navigate the web I feel it necessary to point out this underhanded attempt at forcing the move IE7.

There may be a very good reason to move however the choice in tactics is a major annoyance. Then they require you to validate your version of windows to get it IE7 which is a further annoyance.

An Alternative is Firefox you could wash your hands of IE forever.

Provided you do not WANT to get it now then the following will STOP the IE7 Get it now Offer.
The fix:
This should stop the offer alone however there are a few other tweaks to try if it does not.

A registry tweak, use at your own risk.

In windows you can use Regedit by clicking Start, Run and then type regedit.
This will set the First Home Page for IE. This is the page that loads when you first start IE.

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft \Internet Explorer\Main]
"First Home Page"="http://www.google.com/"

"http://www.google.com/" would be the homepage URL you wish to use.
Use the above at your own risk; I am not responsible if you screw up your registry. I can say though that this worked for a computer I had to Stop the IE7 Get it Now Offer on.

Note: If you wish to change your first home page then you will need to re-edit the above registry setting.

The other tweaks:

  1. In IE goto Tools/Internet Options/Advanced/
    Uncheck “Automatically check for Internet Explorer Updates”
    Click Apply and then OK

  1. At http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com Select CUSTOM and scan
    Uncheck IE7
    Then Hide it.

Of course one could simply Install IE7 however that would be like Giving in to the “Man”…

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To make comments or get more help go here: STOP the IE7 Get it now Offer; IE6 Home Page Hijack.