Q. Is there an easy way to block certain groups of users from browsing the web with Internet Explorer?

John Savill

November 12, 2010

1 Min Read
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A. You could restrict the use of iexplore.exe, but that can cause problems with the system, including local browsing. The easiest way to stop people from browsing the Internet is to set user machines to use an Internet Explorer proxy that's invalid and prevent them changing the proxy configuration. You also need to ensure they can't install an alternate browser, such as Firefox, which would bypass your Internet Explorer proxy configuration.

  • Open a group policy object that applies to the users and move to User Configuration, Policies, Windows Settings, Internet Explorer Maintenance, Connection, Proxy Settings.

  • Enable the proxy settings option and set a dummy IP address for HTTP and Secure, such as 0.0.0.0, and click OK.

  • Go to User Configuration, Policies, Administrative Templates, Windows Components, Internet Explorer, Internet Control Panel.

  • Double-click Disable the Connections page and set it to Enabled. Now users can't change their proxy configurations.

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