Group Policy and Internet Explorer 8

There are approximately 1300 Group Policies for managing Windows® Internet Explorer® 8. This TechNet article provides recommendations for the following important areas: security, performance, and compatibility with Internet Explorer 7 and Internet Explorer 6. This article also lists the 65 new Group Policies added in Internet Explorer 8.

New Group Policies added in Internet Explorer 8

The following table lists the new Group Policies in Internet Explorer 8.

Feature Policy setting name Scope Policy path
Accelerators Turn off Accelerators User, Machine Windows Components\Internet Explorer\Accelerators
Deploy non-default Accelerators User, Machine Windows Components\Internet Explorer\Accelerators
Deploy default Accelerators User, Machine Windows Components\Internet Explorer\Accelerators
Use Policy Accelerators User, Machine Windows Components\Internet Explorer\Accelerators
ActiveX® Turn off ActiveX Opt-In Prompt User, Machine Windows Components\Internet Explorer
Only use the ActiveX Installer Service for installation of ActiveX controls User, Machine Windows Components\Internet Explorer
Only allow approved domains to use ActiveX without prompt User, Machine Windows Components\Internet Explorer\Internet Control Panel\Security\PER ZONE
Disable Per-User Installation of ActiveX Controls User, Machine Windows Components\Internet Explorer
AJAX Turn off Cross Domain Request Object User, Machine Windows Components\Internet Explorer\Security Features
Turn off Cross Document Messaging User, Machine Windows Components\Internet Explorer\Security Features
Maximum number of connections per server (HTTP 1.0) User, Machine Windows Components\Internet Explorer\Security Features\AJAX
Maximum number of connections per server (HTTP 1.1) User, Machine Windows Components\Internet Explorer\Security Features\AJAX
Automatic Crash Recovery Turn off Automatic Crash Recovery Prompt User, Machine Windows Components\Internet Explorer
Turn off Reopen Last Browsing Session User, Machine Windows Components\Internet Explorer
Caret Browsing support Turn on Caret Browsing support User, Machine Windows Components\Internet Explorer\Internet Control Panel\Advanced Page
Compatibility View Turn on Internet Explorer 7 Standards Mode User, Machine Windows Components\Internet Explorer\Compatibility View
Turn off Compatibility View User, Machine Windows Components\Internet Explorer\Compatibility View
Turn on Internet Explorer Standards Mode for Local Intranet User, Machine Windows Components\Internet Explorer\Compatibility View
Use Policy List of Internet Explorer 7 Sites User, Machine Windows Components\Internet Explorer\Compatibility View
Turn off Compatibility View button User, Machine Windows Components\Internet Explorer\Compatibility View
Include updated Web site lists from Microsoft User, Machine Windows Components\Internet Explorer\Compatibility View
Data Execution Prevention Turn off Data Execution Prevention User, Machine Windows Components\Internet Explorer\Security Features
Data URI Support Turn off Data URI Support Machine Windows Components\Internet Explorer\Security Features
Delete Browsing History Prevent Deleting Web sites that the User has Visited User, Machine Windows Components\Internet Explorer\Delete Browsing History
Prevent Deleting Temporary Internet Files User, Machine Windows Components\Internet Explorer\Delete Browsing History
Prevent Deleting Cookies User, Machine Windows Components\Internet Explorer\Delete Browsing History
Prevent Deleting Favorites Site Data User, Machine Windows Components\Internet Explorer\Delete Browsing History
Prevent Deleting InPrivate Blocking data User, Machine Windows Components\Internet Explorer\Delete Browsing History
Configure Delete Browsing History on exit User, Machine Windows Components\Internet Explorer\Delete Browsing History
Developer Tools Turn off Developer Tools User, Machine Windows Components\Internet Explorer\Toolbars
Encryption support Turn off Encryption Support User, Machine Windows Components\Internet Explorer\Internet Control Panel\Advanced Page
Favorites Bar Turn off Favorites Bar User, Machine Windows Components\Internet Explorer
InPrivate Filtering Turn off InPrivate Filterting
InPrivate Filterting Turn off InPrivate Filterting User, Machine Windows Components\Internet Explorer\InPrivate
Do not collect InPrivate Filtering data User, Machine Windows Components\Internet Explorer\InPrivate
InPrivate Filtering threshold User, Machine Windows Components\Internet Explorer\InPrivate
Disable toolbars and extensions when InPrivate Filtering starts User, Machine Windows Components\Internet Explorer\InPrivate
Turn off InPrivate Browsing User, Machine Windows Components\Internet Explorer\InPrivate
HTTP 1.1 Use HTTP 1.1 User, Machine Windows Components\Internet Explorer\Internet Control Panel\Advanced Page
Use HTTP 1.1 through proxy connections User, Machine Windows Components\Internet Explorer\Internet Control Panel\Advanced Page
New Tab behavior Configure new tab page default behavior User, Machine Windows Components\Internet Explorer
Printing Turn off printing menu User Windows Components\Internet Explorer\Browser Menu
RSS Feeds Turn on Basic feed authentication over HTTP User, Machine Windows Components\RSS Feeds
Search Provider Turn off suggestions for all user-installed providers User, Machine Windows Components\Internet Explorer
Turn off the activation of the quick pick menu User, Machine Windows Components\Internet Explorer
Turn off Windows Search AutoComplete User, Machine Windows Components\Internet Explorer\Internet Settings\AutoComplete
Secondary Home Pages Disable changing secondary home page settings User Windows Components\Internet Explorer
Security Turn off cross-site scripting filter User, Machine Windows Components\Internet Explorer\Internet Control Panel\Security Page\<multiple zones>
Turn on warn about Certificate Address Mismatch User, Machine Windows Components\Internet Explorer\Internet Control Panel\Security Page
SmartScreen® Filter Prevent Bypassing SmartScreen Filter Warnings User, Machine Windows Components\Internet Explorer
Turn off Managing SmartScreen Filter User, Machine Windows Components\Internet Explorer
Use SmartScreen Filter User, Machine Windows Components\Internet Explorer\Internet Control Panel\Security Page\PER ZONE
Suggested Sites Turn on Suggested Sites User Windows Components\Internet Explorer
Tab Grouping Turn off Tab Grouping User Windows Components\Internet Explorer
Tab process growth Set tab process growth User, Machine Windows Components\Internet Explorer
Toolbars Lock all toolbars User, Machine Windows Components\Internet Explorer\Toolbars
Hide the command bar User, Machine Windows Components\Internet Explorer\Toolbars
Hide the status bar User, Machine Windows Components\Internet Explorer\Toolbars
Set location of Stop and Refresh buttons User, Machine Windows Components\Internet Explorer\Toolbars
Use large icons for command buttons User, Machine Windows Components\Internet Explorer\Toolbars
Customize command button labels User, Machine Windows Components\Internet Explorer\Toolbars
Web Slices Turn off the feed and Web Slices list User, Machine Windows Components\RSS Feeds
Turn off background sync for feeds and Web Slices User, Machine Windows Components\RSS Feeds
Turn off addition and removal of feeds and Web Slices User, Machine Windows Components\RSS Feeds
Turn off feed and Web Slices discovery User, Machine Windows Components\RSS Feeds