These steps will remove IE Hardening (IE Protected Mode) for members of the Administrators and Users group. Only disable IE Protected Mode after serious consideration of the consequences – especially on a Server.

All these steps require Administrator privilege.

1. Set the following registry values:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components\{A509B1A7-37EF-4b3f-8CFC-4F3A74704073}]

“IsInstalled”=dword:0000000

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components\{A509B1A8-37EF-4b3f-8CFC-4F3A74704073}]

“IsInstalled”=dword:0000000

2. Run the following command lines: (from an elevated command line window.)

Rundll32 iesetup.dll, IEHardenLMSettings

Rundll32 iesetup.dll, IEHardenUser

Rundll32 iesetup.dll, IEHardenAdmin

3. Delete these registry keys: (must be done after the commands in step 2)

[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components\{A509B1A7-37EF-4b3f-8CFC-4F3A74704073}]

[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components\{A509B1A8-37EF-4b3f-8CFC-4F3A74704073}] 

Note the minus at the start of the key path is the format for a .reg file to delete a key.

Completing these steps will modify the default home page and add a registry value to show a warning page on first run. 

Optional: Disable the warning page on first run.

Delete the following registry value: 

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main]

“First Home Page”=-  Re-enable IE7 protected mode by reversing the process in steps 1 and 3, step 2 remains unchanged.