Windows7How

How to Configure Internet Explorer 8 Accelerators

December 16, 2009

In Part I, we learned about Accelerators, which are a feature of Internet Explorer 8 (IE8). The browser does come standard on Windows 7, and it available to download for free from Microsoft for both Windows Vista and Windows XP. Though, as long as you can run IE8, you will be able to use its Accelerators.

So, what about those adding Accelerators to the pop-up window? Well, it is just as easy as using the feature. Simply bring up the Accelerator icon, click on it, and choose All Accelerators and you will see another list. This list does include all installed Accelerators and two other choices; the first is Find More Accelerators, and the second is Manage Accelerators. Click on Find More Accelerators. This will take you directly to the IE8 Accelerator download page – as you probably expected. Here you can choose from hundreds of available Accelerators of all kinds. All you have to do is download the ones you like best and ‘Add’ them to your list. It is incredibly easy, but beware that there are some Accelerators which are not necessarily what they seem. Do your research and make sure the additions you choose are useful to you.

When it comes time to change the settings on your Accelerators, you need to open the Accelerator window and choose Manage Accelerators – simple. This will bring up the Manage Add-ons window which lists out all of your installed Accelerators – of course, in the Accelerators section – and the many other additional applications you have installed for IE8. In this space you can define how your Accelerators present themselves when you click on the Accelerator icon. The number of Accelerators on this list depends on how many you have installed, obviously. If you want your latest downloaded Accelerator to be the default – meaning it comes up on the main menu, not just the All Accelerators section – then click on it and choose to make it Default. In the same way, you can remove the current Default set of Accelerators and change them completely. This part of the feature allows for incredible flexibility – you define what you use and how you get to it.

As you have seen in both parts of this explanation, using the Internet Explorer 8 Accelerators is a very easy process. There is not even a need to move away from the browser tab you are using when you need to use the feature – you just choose, click and click, and it is done. Once you do get used to using them on a regular basis, you will find that it is hard to live without them. One can only hope that Microsoft does not remove them at any point. Or, if they do, that they replace the feature with something even easier to use. Start up your Windows 7 system, open IE8 and begin looking around the Internet; if there is anything you do not understand or have a hard time finding, use an Accelerator and you will likely find the information you need.

Filed under: Guides, Windows 7 Tweaks

Tags: add-ons, browser, ie8, ie8 ac, ie8 accelerators, Internet Explorer 8, pop-up window, win 7, windows 7, windows vista, xp