How to surf the web even if Internet Explorer is disabled

Filed under: Internet, Windows, Browser Tips, How-Tos, Troubleshooting

How to surf the web even if Internet Explorer is disabled

by Brad Linder Jan 3rd 2008

Ever find yourself sitting in front of a computer that's been locked down by an overzealous IT administrator who won't let you install any software or even open Internet Explorer or Firefox? If that PC is running Windows XP, there's a good chance you can still visit Download Squad (or other sites if that sort of thing appeals to you).

All you have to do is launch a Windows application like Calculator, and then click the Help button. Under Help, click "Help Topics," which will bring up a help window. Next, all you have to do is right click on the title bar and select "Jump To URL." Now you can type in any web address you like, but make sure to include "http://" at the beginning. Basically what you're looking at is Internet Explorer 6 inside a help window, but this version of the program isn't quite as smart as IE6. It won't automatically add the http:// for you. And of course, there's no bookmarking feature.

Tags: calculator, help, IE6, Internet-Explorer

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)

phderop said 10:18AM on 1-03-2008

You can also use the help functionality if the windows explorer is disabled by typing the path to an existing directory eg c:\

Todd said 10:28AM on 1-03-2008

I used to use this all the rime at the library, works great. Rumor has it, if you are in a WiFi hotspot, you can surf the web with a Zune by naming any song http://live.com

;)

iptydafu said 11:21AM on 1-03-2008

would that work with a 360, that'd be nice for a change

mhp said 9:03PM on 1-03-2008

I call bullshit on the zune bit. That news'd be all over the place

ryan kuba said 12:00PM on 1-03-2008

This is incredibly helpful for PC repair when you need to get some repair software on a computer thats browser is completely hijacked.

I never would have thought of this but now you can download the AV and Antispyware software with ease.

gochet said 12:00PM on 1-03-2008

This is GREAT!!!! My company has locked down Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo, and other web-based mail clients, and I've tried every trick in the book to access them, with no luck. No proxy would work, no type of anonymous surfing, nothing.

This works perfectly. :-)

Thanks!

Jaxspider said 12:12PM on 1-03-2008

This tip even works on Windows 2000! thanks alot!

GoOrange said 12:18PM on 1-03-2008

Cool tip!

parth said 12:36PM on 1-03-2008

nice one...

kingkool68 said 2:13PM on 1-03-2008

Bravo! I guess this is a benefit to bundling the web browser right into the kernel.

Braintrove.com said 5:46PM on 1-03-2008

Great trick. The Calculator help doesn't work in Vista though.

Michael said 6:40PM on 1-03-2008

I have super IT guys as well. Doesn't work at my place of work either.

Ryan Smith said 6:57PM on 1-03-2008

Any decent IT administrator that is charged with locking down the internet will do it at the firewall, so this trick would be of little use.

Although I could see it working well in situations like the library or other locations.

Eric Bostrom said 7:09PM on 1-03-2008

Thankfully the locking down I did still prevents this from working. Admins don't lock you out for gits and shiggles.

Slvr said 8:09PM on 1-03-2008

Well, sometimes they do... ;)

I mean sure, there's a perfectly reasonable justification for blocking certain computers from Internet access, but I have gone years without ever seeing a single reason to lock down a client workstation from all Internet access. Every kiosk in the region has the *sole* purpose of web browsing. Hell, our department's primary management system is completely web-based...I would be shocked if someone even suggested the idea.

Anyway, my point isn't to suggest that maybe *you're* doing it just for "gits and shiggles", but if that is in fact the case, don't brag about it. That kind of attitude is a one-way ticket to having a whole department or school or office staring down their noses at you...and whoever replaces you...and whoever replaces them when they resign from the stress of being hated so damn much.

IT admins are the Homeland Security of the office...they're handed sweeping authority over the thing sitting on your desk that you use for 8 hours a day. If that authority ever finds itself abused, you could go years without somebody smiling at you in the hallway.

Eric Bostrom said 8:14PM on 1-03-2008

Certainly interesting points. My users can do whatever they want with firefox, squid, adblock and user rights on their local workstations. On the TS server, they don't get internet access at all, because they're all in the same sandbox.

I wasn't clear in that the internet blocking I am doing is on the server(s) where people do actual work.

They're free to mess up their workstations all they can but not on critical servers.

Roman M said 8:00PM on 1-03-2008

works on 98SE... if anyone else still uses that...

guruofgentoo said 10:42PM on 1-03-2008

apparently you do.... but actually, many of us still use it in virtual machines for testing purposes - or a virus playground :)

sKurt said 8:00PM on 1-03-2008

It isn't ver 6 of IE it is really whatever version of IE you are running at the time.

I tried the trick on a computer that is running IE 7 to see if this one program that doesn't work with 7 and DOES work with 6 would work with this calc trick.

It said "Sorry, you must use ie 5.5 or newer"

so while it works as a browser, it is NOT a copy of 6, it IS a copy of what ever version you have installed.

Cool Trick

Geminus said 8:00PM on 1-03-2008

Knoppix is a bootable CD that circumvents 99% of restrictions. When you're done, reboot & remove the CD and Linux was never there... its great for clandestine ops.

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