InPrivate Browsing

If not everything you do on the Web is something you want your spouse/parents/boss/teacher to know about, then Microsoft has heard you.

Of course, you can erase individual History entries, as described earlier. But those aren’t the only tracks you leave as you browse the Web. Your hard drive collects cookies and temporary files; Internet Explorer collects passwords and other stuff you type into boxes; the address bar memorizes addresses you type so you’ll have AutoFill working for you later; and so on.

But in Internet Explorer 11, a feature called InPrivate browsing lets you surf wherever you like within a single browser window. Then, when you close that window, all that stuff is wiped out. No History items, no cookies, no saved password list, no AutoFill entries, and so on. In other words, what happens in InPrivate browsing stays in InPrivate browsing.

POWER USERS’ CLINIC: Add-On Manager

Internet Explorer is more than just a browser. In fact, it’s practically a kind of mini-operating system that lets lots of little add-on programs run inside it. The most common category of these plug-ins is called ActiveX controls. They grant all kinds of superpowers to Internet Explorer; for example, the Flash add-on makes possible animations and movies on YouTube and many other sites.

But ActiveX controls and other add-ons can cause problems. Install too many, and your browser can get sluggish. Sometimes add-ons conflict, resulting in an Internet Explorer crash. And some—this is the really nasty part—may actually be malicious code, designed to gum up your browser or your PC.

You’ll know when some page needs an ActiveX control to proceed. You’ll see a yellow warning bar just under the address bar, letting you know you have to click it. If you’re pretty sure this is a reliable Web site that really needs to install this add-on feature, click the information bar; from the shortcut menu, choose Allow Blocked Content. Gone are the days when evildoers could invade your PC by downloading these things without your knowledge.

To help you get a handle on your plug-in situation, choose Tools→Manage Add-ons. You get a list of all your add-ons and ActiveX controls. They’re listed in several different categories, like those currently loaded into Internet Explorer and ActiveX controls you’ve downloaded.

Highlight one to read details about it, and to summon the Disable, Enable, and (in some categories) Remove buttons.

(Hint: Before clicking any of these buttons, do a Google search on the name or the file name. You’ll find out soon enough if the plug-in is trustworthy. Be especially wary of add-ons in the Browser Helper Objects [BHOs] category. These can be useful, but also very dangerous.)

• To start InPrivate browsing, press the Alt key to make the menu bar appear. Then choose Tools→InPrivate Browsing, or press Shift+Ctrl+P. A new window opens (Figure 14-11). Nothing you do in this window—or in the tabs within it—will leave tracks.

  

  Figure 14-11. When you’re browsing InPrivate, a special logo appears at the left end of the address bar to remind you.

• To stop InPrivate browsing, just close the window. Open a new Internet Explorer window to continue browsing “publicly.”

Note

Casual snoopers will never know you’ve been looking over the racy photos on the Midwestern Shirtless Accountants Web site. But you’re not completely untraceable. Nobody using your PC can see where you’ve been, but your network administrator, or a nearby hacker, could watch you from across the network.