Please Help Me "Transition" to Internet Exploder...err Explorer

[tinjaw]

Due to work being work and government work on top of that, ignorance and bureaucracy have prevailed and I must (temporarily, I hope) use IE exclusively at work.

I live inside Firefox at home, and up until now, also at work.

I have memorized a bunch of hotkeys and run dozens of extensions that I pretty much rely upon on an hourly basis.

My question to the forum is...

What are the "must-have" addons/hacks/extensions/workarounds for IE that will make my IE experience much more productive?

I would like some serious answers, please, as this is work-related and I am not just doing this for the fun of the experience. Thank you for your kind assistance in this manner. 

I guess I should add that I only have standard user privileges on a Win XP Pro box on a Windows Domain, so I cannot install any EXEs. It is my understanding that IE7 has something similar to Firefox Extensions that can be added by regular (non-privledged) users.

[kartal]

You can try this ie hack, it has extra features

http://www.fenrir-inc.com/us/sleipnir/

"Sleipnir Overview
Sleipnir is designed to be a highly customizable browser that you can configure to suit your individual needs. With Sleipnir, you can create your ideal browser by changing the design, skin, and visual appearance. You can also add custom functionality to Sleipnir with a wide range of plugins and user scripts. Users love Seipnir for it's unique blend of high-performance and customizability!
"

[Darwin]

Unfortunately, Sleipnir, like Maxthon (which I was going to suggest), is installed via an exe installer. Dunno if the portable (USB) version would work for Tinajw, though?

[kartal]

I use portable zip version, it works here.

[fenixproductions]

TheWorld Browser is portable too:
http://www.ioage.com/en/

[tinjaw]

Sorry but portable software is not an option for me. I cannot run anything from a USB stick on the work computers.

Otherwise I wouldn't have posted this question and would be running Portable Firefox. 

[Darwin]

No apologies necessary, tinjaw 

[alivingspirit]

Well...what exactly are the extensions/ features do you like in Firefox so I know what to look for. I have a few ideas but they are all not productivity related. What makes your Firefox so productive / useful?

[Deozaan]

IE Pro is a nice extension to IE.

[Paul Keith]

IE Pro is a nice extension to IE.

If I'm not mistaken, IE Pro is also a .exe but yeah, that's always choice #1 when getting IE to work best.

I would try bookmarklets.

http://www.mvps.org/dmcritchie/ie/bookmarklets.htm

Didn't test if all of those links contain IE supported bookmarklets but the first link should have them.

[Darwin]

I'm quite leery of IE Pro... or have they cleaned up their act? IIRC, they were accused about a year ago of shipping with mal and/or spyware?

ALivingSpirit is right, though. What sort of functions are you looking for, tinjaw?

[Paul Keith]

No idea Darwin but when I tried it back then, it looked pretty clean to me. Could be one of those, install an additional toolbar thing that most power users know about already but nothing suspicious in the main extension that my anti-spyware alerted me to.

[Darwin]

Thanks, Paul. I just looked into it a bit and everyone seems happy with it in Google-land. There's a thread on DC about it from about a year ago as well...

Tinjaw - have you looked at M$' own plug-in page for IE7? Admittedly it links to a lot of 3rd party stuff, but might be worth a look: http://www.ieaddons.com/en/default.aspx?cid=home&scid=0

[Paul Keith]

All I can say is be wary of the IE add-ons page. When I was surfing at it back then, IE Pro was the only one that was the only one that I saw useful.

[4wd]

Sorry but portable software is not an option for me. I cannot run anything from a USB stick on the work computers.

Otherwise I wouldn't have posted this question and would be running Portable Firefox. 

Are you able to use CDs?

How about a portable version on a credit card sized CD(RW)?

[Darwin]

Are you able to use CDs?

That would still try to (auto) run as an exe file, wouldn't it?

[Grorgy]

Using IE7Pro could be a problem as well, since you have to install that from an exe as far as I know anyway.

[4wd]

Are you able to use CDs?

That would still try to (auto) run as an exe file, wouldn't it?

If you mean AutoRun, the semi-useless, auto-rootkit installing, rather pointless feature of Windows, then:
a) who in their right mind would have it enabled.
b) hold down the shift key if you can't disable it.
c) shoot the admin guys - it should never be enabled on a work related networked system IMHO.  Makes it far too easy to install unwanted programs/virii/rootkit/etc.

AFAIK, Portable Firefox on CD doesn't autorun anything, there's no autorun.inf file.  About the only difference between it and the USB flashdrive version is the .ini which either points temporary files to the users temp area on the HDD or sets the cache, history and whatever else so that nothing is written.

Actually, only a few days ago I saw a build/install of Firefox set up so that it didn't write anything at all to the host system but I can't remember where it was.

[f0dder]

Hm, if you're locked down to the point you can't run your own EXEs, I doubt that any IE extensions would work? Afaik those are COM objects... which means .DLL files, and thus executable code. If your workplace blocks firefox but allows COM objects, then... *stares at the skies*

[Darwin]

Are you able to use CDs?

That would still try to (auto) run as an exe file, wouldn't it?

If you mean AutoRun, the semi-useless, auto-rootkit installing, rather pointless feature of Windows, then:
a) who in their right mind would have it enabled.
b) hold down the shift key if you can't disable it.
c) shoot the admin guys - it should never be enabled on a work related networked system IMHO.  Makes it far too easy to install unwanted programs/virii/rootkit/etc.

AFAIK, Portable Firefox on CD doesn't autorun anything, there's no autorun.inf file.  About the only difference between it and the USB flashdrive version is the .ini which either points temporary files to the users temp area on the HDD or sets the cache, history and whatever else so that nothing is written.

Actually, only a few days ago I saw a build/install of Firefox set up so that it didn't write anything at all to the host system but I can't remember where it was.

Agreed about autorun. My main point was that FF portable is an exe file that needs to be invoked, so AFAICT, it's still out of the running 

[tinjaw]

It is a matter of policy. I am not allowed to run executable that aren't installed on the computer by the IT department.

There is nothing other than poicy stopping me from doing so. I can take a USB stick with and exe and run it just fine from a technical perspective.

It looks like I am limited to bookmarklets with IE. I miss my Firefox extensions. :-(

Thanks for confirming what I already thought to be the case. Namely, you get what you get with IE and nothing more.

The ray of hope is that we might get commercial internet drops at our desks in a few months. That means I can use my own notebook computer connected directly to the Internet. IF and When that happens.

[alivingspirit]

I just tried out IE7Pro. (Download from here)
Those guys have really done an amazing job. Tinjaw, If you could somehow get it installed all your problems would be solved. It comes with everything you could ever want.

• Add Blocker
• User Scripts
• Spell Checker
• Synchronize Bookmarks
• Form Filler
• Proxy Changer

Anything else you might need you can find at http://www.iescripts.org/
One of my favorite features in Pro is the Smart Drag.

The problem with IE is that its not made to be extendable so extenders have to write in a compiled language like C++, as explained in this article by a developer of adblock plus.
There are also several other "extentions" which I have not tried:

• Greasemonkey for ie
• A notebook extension
• http://www.muvenum.com/products/freeware/

I know this probably does not help much but give it a shot anyways.
I think everyone knows how you feel about the bureaucracy in the office. You are bound to experience it it at some point in your life. Right now I'm feeling it in the college system. Hang in there.

[Paul Keith]

It is a matter of policy. I am not allowed to run executable that aren't installed on the computer by the IT department.

There is nothing other than poicy stopping me from doing so. I can take a USB stick with and exe and run it just fine from a technical perspective.

It looks like I am limited to bookmarklets with IE. I miss my Firefox extensions. :-(

Thanks for confirming what I already thought to be the case. Namely, you get what you get with IE and nothing more.

The ray of hope is that we might get commercial internet drops at our desks in a few months. That means I can use my own notebook computer connected directly to the Internet. IF and When that happens.

Well you could try suggesting to the higher ups to allow you to use Maxthon. I'm sure a screencast of how it looks so similar to IE might at least move some minds.

[4wd]

It is a matter of policy. I am not allowed to run executable that aren't installed on the computer by the IT department.

Now I understand, nothing more than "Do what I say not what I do" kind of thing.

Have you thought of putting up a website with nothing but things that actually demonstrates the insecurities of a standard IE installation and then innocently suggesting to other work people that they visit it.

Possibly after a few dozen toolbars have been installed they may get the point 

But then again....we are talking about a government department.....they never get the point......

[J-Mac]

It is a matter of policy. I am not allowed to run executable that aren't installed on the computer by the IT department.

Now I understand, nothing more than "Do what I say not what I do" kind of thing.

Have you thought of putting up a website with nothing but things that actually demonstrates the insecurities of a standard IE installation and then innocently suggesting to other work people that they visit it.

Possibly after a few dozen toolbars have been installed they may get the point 

But then again....we are talking about a government department.....they never get the point......

THe "point" is that when companies allow employees to install programs on company-owned computers, the IT department spends more time cleaning/disinfecting machines than any other activity. Understand that most employees are not as knowledgeable as DC members, and do not see any harm in installing HotBar, CoolWebSearch, Skype, etc.

Jim