As an IT guy, I always encounter problems when untrained customers tweak their Internet connection settings.  They always make a mistake somewhere and sometimes the solution is to just keep them away from the Internet Options dialog box altogether. 

I have come across a company that hides the Internet Options tab in Internet Explorer to discourage users from changing the options – which makes sense since network admins are the only ones who are supposed to access these options. 

In a controlled environment, companies usually allow only one type of browser like Internet Explorer and those companies usually don’t allow their employees to change the Internet Options like default the homepage and proxies. 

Below is a typical Internet Options window:

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To disable any Tab in the Internet Options window follow these steps.

· Click Start and type GPEDIT.MSC in the search bar and hit enter to launch the Group Policy editor window.

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· In the Local Group Policy editor window expand User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Internet Explorer then click on Internet Control Panel.

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· On the right pane of the window double click on the item you want to disable. For example, to disable the Advanced tab double click on Disable the Advanced page option.

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· In the properties window click on the Enabled option and click Ok. The advanced Tab in the Internet Options window will now be disabled and removed.

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· Follow the previous steps to disable other items in the Internet Options Window. To enable items just select the not configured option in the properties window and click Ok.

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There you have it!  For less savvy computer users who don’t know GPEDIT, it should discourage them from changing the advanced settings of the Internet options. 

Ben Carigtan shows you how it’s done.