Wednesday, February 04, 2009

Setting Internet Explorer window sizes

Programs like Internet Explorer will open to the same size and placement as they were when they were closed. The gotcha is that clicking the X in the upper right corner of the application does not officially close the program. That just exits the application quickly.

If you want Internet Explore to open full-size when you start it up, you must first start IE. Then maximize the window. Now click File, then Close. Now restart IE, and it should start up in a full-sized window. If half of the window is off the screen when you start a program, bring the window to the location you want and then click File and then Close, and it will re-open in this position the next time.

Changing the size of windows that appear when you click on an Internet link takes a few more steps.

Open Internet Explorer. Now open another instance of Internet Explorer so that you have two running at the same time. In the second one, right-click a link and select Open In New Window. If the new window does not start in full screen, simply resize the window by dragging the edges out to the sides of the screen. Do not use the max button.

Close the first window by selecting File, then Close. Now close the window you just made full size. But close it by holding down the Control key and selecting File, then Close. Do not release the Control key until the window is closed. Now close the last Internet Explorer window.

If you do this right, the settings will stick. You may or may not have to reboot, depending on your operating system.