Turn Off Address Bar Search in Internet Explorer

Anybody else have an issue with Internet Explorer 9 when you type in something short like "sharepoint" in the address bar, and it searches for that term instead of taking you to your Sharepoint server? This new and wonderful “FEATURE” of Microsoft’s can be disabled as per this Microsoft Knowledge Base article.

There are 3 different methods you can use to disable the address bar search in IE 9:

Method 1: Using Tools menu in Internet Explorer

1. Click Internet Options
2. Click the Advanced tab 
3. Check the option Go to an intranet site for a single word entry in the Address bar.

Method 2: Using Group Policy

Local or Domain Administrators can configure this setting by using Group Policy.

1. Click Start > Run 
2. Type gpedit.msc, and then click OK.
3. Expand User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Internet Explorer.
4. Then expand Internet Settings > Advanced Settings > Browsing 
5. Set Go to an intranet site for a single word entry in the Address bar according to your desired settings. 

You have to update policies or restart the computer to apply changes.

Method 3: Using registry key

Important: This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. We recommend using one of the above methods if possible.

Outlook 2010 – “Contacting Server”

Problem

When receiving emails with embedded links to files on the internet, Outlook downloads the images for display. When replying to messages, if they have not been fully downloaded, Outlook hangs while it retrieves the file with a dialog “Contacting Server”

Resolution

To prevent this issue, the solution is to not download the images in Outlook automatically. This prevents this issue for occurring.

Process

1. Open Outlook

2. Click on “File” in the top left corner of the Outlook window

3. Click on “Options”

4. Click on “Trust Center”

5. Click on “Trust Center Settings…”

6. Click on “Automatic Download”

7. Check all of the boxes on the right except for “Warn me before downloading content when editing, forwarding, or replying to e-mail”

8. Click “OK”

9. Click “OK”

Results

Emails now offer an option to download images like this:

Emails show an icon for undownloaded images like this:

Replies to emails look like this with images replaced with blanks:

If you choose to download the pictures, you can still end up with the same issue where you are waiting on the images, but at that point you will know why this is happening.