Add a spell checker to Internet Explorer
Ever wish you had a spell checker for Internet Explorer so you could check spelling when submitting forms or posting to a web based forum.  Well here it is.  It's called ieSpell and adds an icon to the Internet Explorer toolbar, and a "Check Spelling" option to the IE right click context menu.  Click Go get it and you will find it about one third of the way down the page on the right hand side.  ( Note: After the install is done you may have to "customize" your IE toolbar and add the icon )

Make Google your default search engine for "Selective Search"
No matter how I set up my custom search, the highlighted text or selective search feature wouldn't use Google.  So I did some "tweaking" and came up with this fix.  ( It is probably not original ) If you have the Web Accessories feature installed, Open C:\Windows\Web\selsearch.htm in notepad and make the changes you see in the image page.  Then it will automatically use Google.  Cut and paste the following if it's easier:
("http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q="+str);

Customize your search settings.
Click the search icon on Internet Explorer Toolbar and then click Custom and set your default search engine.  I set mine to "Use one search service" then clicked the Autosearch settings tab  and selected  Google.... "of course."

Internet Explorer Web Accessories
Add a Zoom in and Zoom out feature for images and a view links or images list function on the context menu when you right click in a Web page. This is also a run once install file that has no icon.  The zoom in zoom out feature is great for Ebay users.  The install file name is ie5wa.exe

Launch a Search Engine by right clicking highlighted text.
Part of the Internet Explorer Web Accessories package, you can launch a search engine using Selective Search, by simply highlighting text on a web page, right clicking and then selecting Web Search.  It automatically launches the search engine you have specified in your search settings.

Use Toggle Images to stop images from loading
Are you doing a lot of surfing for text based articles/pages and getting tired of waiting for images to load.  Use the Toggle Images feature that is yet another part of the Internet Explorer Web Accessories, to turn off image loading.  Toggle Images is located in the Links button on your browser when installed.

Secure your Clipboard
When you are on-line, it is possible for a web site to read the contents of your clipboard.  To prevent this from happening, go to Internet Explorer, Tools Internet Options, click the Security tab and then click Custom level.  In the security Settings panel, scroll down to Scripting and make sure that "Allow paste operations" is set to Prompt.

Repairing Internet Explorer
Internet Explorer has a repair tool that's not very widely publicized.  To use it, Go to Add/Remove Programs on the Control Panel, click on Microsoft Internet Explorer and then click Add/Remove.  It will not start the uninstall process, but will open a panel that gives you the Add a component, Repair Internet Explorer, and the Uninstall option. ( Uninstall is only available if you have not deleted the older version )

Use the Find {on this page}.. feature
Searching for information with a search engine will normally bring up several pages of links to sites.  Unfortunately when you open some web pages it seems as if they have tried to stuff an encyclopedia's worth of information on them.  Instead of scrolling through the text trying to find what you're looking for, let the Find feature in Internet Explorer do it for you.  Simply click Edit and then "Find {on this page}" ( or press Ctrl+F ) and type in the text to find and click Find next.

Make the Toolbar take up less desktop space
Between text labels, Icons and Address bars the Internet Explorer toolbar can consume a lot of desktop area.  Just right click a blank area of the toolbar, and click Custom on the tab that opens.  You can then change the position and size of the icons, and remove the text labels if you choose.      ( This also works in Outlook Express )

Resume an interrupted download
Finally found that program or file you want and right in the middle of the download your connection fails.  You can "normally" make IE continue the download where it left off.  Instead of closing and restarting IE to re-establish the connection do this:  Minimize the "download status" box and the IE page with the download link to the Task Bar. Right click the connection icon if still there, and click close or disconnect.  Launch Outlook Express, or if it's already open click Send/Receive.   OE will open the connection panel so you can re-establish the connection.   When connected again, maximize the IE page with the link, re-click the link to start the download and IE will "normally" resume where it left off.

Use Internet Explorer to view files and folders
Want to look at a file on your computer but don't feel like right clicking Start and then Explore and then half a dozen plus signs.  Just type the drive and file path into the address bar and click go.  From there double click to where you want to go.

Back up your Favorites by using either Export or Copying them
One of the things we never think to back up or save is the Favorites folder.  If you're like me, it contains several hundred "Favorites" or "Bookmarks."  If you ever have a crash and have to reformat and reinstall, it is impossible to remember all of the great sites you've visited.  I was lucky and had copied mine to a floppy to put in my back up computer.  One way is to just copy or "Send" the Favorites folder to a floppy.  The other is to use the Export/Import feature of Internet Explorer.  You'll notice it also has a cookies Export/Import feature.  However, the only cookies I want to Export or Import have chocolate chips in them.

Is Internet Explorer getting slow or hanging up opening web pages?
Use the "Reset Web Settings" feature in IE to restore the default web settings.   When off line right click the IE icon on the Desktop, and then click Properties, and then the Programs tab.  Click on Reset Web Settings and Uncheck the "Reset My Homepage" box. ( Or your homepage will be the MSN page. )  Then click Yes to reset and Ok to close the panel.

Launch Internet Explorer from the Start, Run box
In a hurry and don't feel like double clicking the IE icon or the icon for your ISP and waiting for the home page, you've got mail and who knows what else routine. Even when offline, click Start, Run and type in the address of the website you want opened, click OK and tadum, IE opens, establishes the connection and opens the site.  ( For those of you who use the "On Line" company this won't work unless you reconfigure your homepage and some other settings. )

Make Internet Explorer open more windows
When you're surfing the NET do you sometimes lose a page you wanted to go back to because IE keeps using the same window.  A simple setting change will allow you to open as many IE windows as your computer can handle.  Right click the IE icon, click Properties, Click advanced and uncheck the box "Reuse windows for launching shortcuts."  Click Apply and then OK.
( Note: This feature is disabled by IE5.5 on computers with less then 32mb of RAM )

Open a favorite Website from the Start Menu
Having a bunch of websites saved in your Favorites folder is great, but the problem is you have to "launch" IE or "explore to the Favorites folder" and double click the entry to go to the site.  This trick places a folder on top of the Start Menu, and even with IE not running, one click on the entry will launch IE and open the site.  It is also a great way to clear the desktop of all of those icons.  Right click Start and click Explore which will open the Start Menu folder. Right click in the right hand panel and click New and click Folder. Then right click the New Folder and click Rename and name it any thing you want.  Hit F5 to refresh and then click on your new folder in the left panel and then cut and paste or drag the icons into the folder. They now live in your folder on top of the Start Menu.  Click start, scroll up to your folder which magically pops open and one click on an entry launches IE and opens the site. ( Yep, you "On Line" folks have to change some settings. )

Stop losing your Wallpaper
Been there done that.  Surfing around and found a great image for my Desktop, set it as my wallpaper and a few days later it had disappeared, lost on my hard drive or somewhere in cyberspace.  The trick is to right click the image and then click Save Picture as... instead of  Set as Wallpaper.  In Save in, navigate to the Windows folder and in Save as type: select .bmp and name it what you want.  Then to actually make it your Wallpaper, right click the Desktop, click Properties, and then Background and it will appear in the list of images until you delete the file. ( Thank you Dick Paladino for the lights picture )

Stop losing your Icons
Found a neat site and added it to Favorites or right clicked the page and created a desktop shortcut complete with a nice little icon for the site.  A few days later the icon is gone and all you see is another default IE icon.  The problem is that it was automatically saved in Temporary Internet files and if you deleted them or used a cleanup utility it was erased.  The fix! Create a new folder either on the C: drive or in the Windows folder and name it icons, or whatever.  After you add the site to favorites or add a shortcut, open the Temporary Internet files and find the icon.  It will be named  favicon.ico.  Copy and paste it to your icons folder, rename it to what it actually is and hit enter.  Then right click the desktop shortcut, click properties, click shortcut, click change icon and navigate to your icons folder and select the one you saved.

Wallpaper your Toolbar
Tired of the default background on your Internet Explorer and Outlook Express windows.   This easy modification adds a Wallpaper button to the IE Toolbar which lets you change it to the different images that are included, or you can create your own bmp image and add it to the Bitmap folder it creates when installed.  I made mine out of the clouds bitmap so that my toolbar seems transparent.  The icon is the one that appears on your toolbar after install.

Testing your connection with the Ping command
Your machine says it's connected but when you try to open a web page or check your mail, Internet Explorer seems to go to sleep or Outlook tells you the connection to the server has failed.  Windows has the ability to test your connection even if IE or OE don't seem to work.  If the modem panel has opened and connected, go to Start, Programs, and click on MS-Dos prompt.  In the window that opens type cd:\ and hit enter and then type: ping, a space, and type in the www address of a known site and hit enter.   If the results look like the image, your connection is fine.  To close the DOS window type cd:\ windows and hit enter and then exit and hit enter.  Note: You can open your modem connection without launching IE or OE by going to My Computer, Dial up Networking and right clicking on the connection icon and selecting Connect.  ( Except for "On Line" users. )

View the internet "route" taken to find your favorite site
Want to see how many "hops" or servers you travel through getting from your computer to your favorite site?  When connected, open the DOS window using the same method above, type cd:\ and hit enter and then type: tracert, a space and the www address for your favorite site.  Using Trace route Windows will display a list of the "hops" ( up to 30 ) taken over the internet from your computer to your favorite site.

Get the Spinning Globe back
You installed software from an ISP and the moving image in the top right corner of the IE and OE toolbar that was installed as part of their "branding process," looks like a cross between Daffy Duck and Spock from Star Trek, or is so large it makes the toolbar cover half of the screen.  They used to be called "spinning twirly thingies." but now they're called "Throbbers."  ( Probably because they cause throbbing headaches. )  Want the globe back?  Click start, Run and type in regedit and click Ok. in the panel that opens click the plus signs by: Current User, Software, Microsoft, Internet Explorer and click once on Toolbar.  In the right hand panel will be BigBitmap, BrandBitmap, SmallBitmap and SmBrandBitmap. Right click on each and click modify and clear the value and type in Default and click Ok.  Close regedit and the next time you start IE or OE the globe will be back.  You can also make your own, the topic of another tip. My current one shows in the image.

Change the name at the top of  your Internet Explorer window
Yep, installed the ISP software and your IE window says: Internet Explorer brought to you by the worlds greatest.....!  Mine says...what else, 95 Is Alive.  Run regedit again and click the plus signs by: Current user, Software, Microsoft, Internet Explorer but this time click once on Main.  In the right hand panel scroll down to Window Title. Right click on it, click modify and in the panel that opens, clear the data and name it whatever you want to.  Next time you open IE it will be there.  Notice that the sky behind the Flag and the sky/cloud background for the toolbar look the same.

Open your Security Zones Panel with a double click
Want a quick way to check your security settings?  Simply double click the box in an Internet Explorer page, right above the Systray, and the Security Settings Panel will pop open.