How to Disable Online Welcome for Internet Explorer 8

The Internet Explorer 8 welcome screen consists of a setup feature customization tool with a welcome message and description of the browser's features. This message appears continuously when the browser is started until the full customization tour is completed. The welcome screen tool can be disabled in the Windows registry, stopping the online welcome message without completing the browser tour.

Instructions

1. Press the Windows and "R" key simultaneously on your computer keyboard to open the Run menu.

2. Type "regedit.exe" without the quotes and press "Enter."

3. Press the "+" symbol next to "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE," followed by "Software," then "Plicies," then "Microsoft," then "Internet Explorer."

4. Right-click an empty area of the screen and click "New," followed by "Key." Type "Main" and press "Enter."

5. Click "Main" on the left side of the screen to select it.

6. Right-click the empty white box on the right side of the screen and click "New," followed by "DWORD."

7. Type "DisableFirstRunCustomize" to create the value with empty data.

8. Double-click "DisableFirstRunCustomize" on the right side of the screen and enter "1" without quotes in the pop-up box that appears. Press "Enter" on your keyboard to save the changes.

9. Exit the registry editor. You have now disabled the welcome screen on Internet Explorer 8.

References

• WinHelpOnline; How to Disable Internet Explorer Welcome Screen (Tour and RunOnce) for All Users; Ramesh Srinivasan; July 15, 2009