Change IE's Window Title
I just got a new Dell computer, and one of the things that really pisses me off about these machines is all the crapware they install on the new computers. They seem to reinvent every little tool that is already provided by the OS, but do it so poorly that the tool can bearly hobble along. It slows my computer down, makes configurations difficult, and is generally intrusive.
Dell, if you're listening, stop it.
I've gone back and forth over the years, trying to decide if it's better and faster to try to uninstall all the crapware they put on my new machine, or to just format the thing and start over from scratch. This time I decided to try to reverse the damage that Dell has done. I've done it with viruses, why can't I do it with Dell. Oh yea, Dell's sneakier.
They even went so far as to rename IE. Now this is not a new hack, the functionality has been around for years (not sure, how many. if you do know, post it to a comment). There's a Registry key that lets you change the title of IE. Dell chooses to rename IE to "Internet Explorer provided by Dell," Thanks, Dell, for going out and finding and installing a free browser, I can see you're really looking out for me.
In any case I decided to take back my IE, and while I was at it, rename it to something a little shorter, "IE."
To change the name of IE follow these steps:
- Open Regedit (start -> run -> type "regedit" -> hit enter)
- Browse to Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main
- Double click the Key Value "Window Title" to whatever you want.
Be very, very, very careful with your registry. It is a fickel wench, and will hose your computer three ways to tuesday if you screw something up. Additionally backing it up and reverting to a saved state is not straightforward. That said, this is a pretty easy edit, that anybody that has played with the registy before can do.
Do not e-mail me saying that Windows won't start or nothing looks that same, I warned you :-)
Happy Regediting.
