In earlier versions of the Windows® operating system, Internet Explorer Maintenance (IEM) could be used to configure a subset of Internet Explorer settings in an environment using Group Policy. In Windows® 8, the IEM settings have been deprecated in favor of Group Policy Preferences, Administrative Templates (.admx), and the Internet Explorer Administration Kit 10 (IEAK 10).
Any settings that you previously configured with IEM will no longer work on computers where Internet Explorer 10 or newer is installed, regardless of the Windows version it's been installed on. You must update your settings using Group Policy Preferences, Administrative Templates (.admx), or the Internet Explorer Administration Kit (IEAK).
Because Group Policy Preferences and IEAK 10 use asynchronous processes when they run, we recommend that you choose to use only one of the tools within each group of settings, for example using only IEAK 10 within the Security settings or Group Policy Preferences within the Internet Zone settings. In addition, it's important to remember that policy is enforced and can't be changed by the user, while preferences are configured, but can be changed by the user.
For more information about Group Policy, see Configuring and Administering Group Policy Settings, Using Group Policy Preferences, Using Administrative Templates, Group Policy Settings Reference for Windows and Windows Server, Group Policy ADMX Syntax Reference Guide, and Enable and Disable Settings in a Preference Item.
The following table shows the deprecated IEM settings in relation to the Group Policy Preferences or IEAK 10 replacement.
Enables you to customize the text that appears in the title bar of the Internet Explorer browser.
On the Browser User Interface page of IEAK 10, click Customize Title Bars, and then type the text that appears on the title bar in the Title Bar Text box.
Your new text is appended to the string "Microsoft Internet Explorer provided by".
Enables you to customize the buttons and background of the browser toolbar.
Buttons. Customizes the buttons on the Internet Explorer 10 toolbar.
On the Browser User Interface page of IEAK 10, click Add, enter your new toolbar caption, action, and icon, whether the button should appear by default, and then click OK. In addition, you can also edit, remove, or delete an existing toolbar button.
The background setting is no longer available in Internet Explorer 10.
Enables you to replace the static and animated logos in the upper-right corner of the Internet Explorer window with customized logos.
This setting is no longer available.
The Custom Logo and Animated Bitmaps setting is longer available in Internet Explorer 10.
Enables you to import connection settings from a previously configured PC. These settings restricts how a user can interact with the connection settings on the System Polices and Restrictions page, in addition to enabling you to remove old dial-up connection settings from user's computers.
In the Internet Settings Group Policy Preferences dialog box, click the Connections tab, and then configure your proxy settings.
On the Connection Settings page of IEAK 10, modify the connection settings, including importing your current connection settings. You can also delete existing dial-up connection settings.
Enables you to update a user's computer after deployment by specifying a URL to an .ins file, an auto-proxy URL, or both. You can define when the update should occur, in minutes. If the interval value is left blank, or zero, automatic configuration only happens after the browser is started and navigated to a page.
In the Internet Settings Group Policy Preferences dialog box, click the Automatic Configuration tab, and then add your URL.
On the Automatic Configuration page of IEAK 10, modify the configuration settings, including providing the URL to an .ins file or an auto-proxy site.
Enables you to specify the proxy servers, if any, that users can connect to.
In the Internet Settings Group Policy Preferences dialog box, click the Connections tab, click LAN Settings, and then select whether to enable automatic detection of your configuration settings and whether to use a proxy server.
On the Proxy Settings page of IEAK 10, enable your proxy settings, including adding proxy server addresses and exceptions.
Enables the browser to provide identification to visited servers, and is often used to keep Internet traffic statistics.
You can enter custom text, appended to the default Internet Explorer string. The default string is different for each platform.
On the Compatibility View page of IEAK 10, type your additional text to append to the user agent string.
Enables you to specify custom URLs for Favorites and Links. You can also specify the order of each folder, disable Internet Explorer Suggested Sites, and import an existing folder structure.
On the Favorites, Favorites Bar and Feeds page of IEAK 10, add your custom URLs to the Favorites, Favorites Bar, or RSS Feeds folders, or create new folders.
You can also edit, test, or remove your URLs, sort the list order, or disable Internet Explorer Suggested Sites.
Enables you to add custom home pages, which can open different tabs, and to add a support page that appears when a user clicks Internet Explorer online Help.
In the Internet Settings Group Policy Preferences dialog box, click the General tab, and then add your custom home page.
On the Important URLs - Home page and Support page of IEAK 10, add custom URLs to your home pages, and to your support page.
You can also click to retain the previous home page information when the user upgrades to a newer version of Internet Explorer.
Enables you to customize your security settings, based on zone.
In the Internet Settings Group Policy Preferences dialog box, click the Security tab, and then update your security settings, based on zone.
On the Security and Privacy Settings page of IEAK 10, select your Security Zones and Privacy setting, modifying it, as necessary.
Enables you to customize your content ratings so users can't view sites with risky content.
On the Security and Privacy Settings page of IEAK 10, select your Content Ratings setting, modifying it, as necessary.
Enables you to designate trustworthy software publishers, and to prevent users from adding new, trusted publishers while browsing.
Authenticode Settings are no longer available.
Enables you to import your default program settings, which specify the programs Windows will use for each Internet Service.
In the Internet Settings Group Policy Preferences dialog box, click the Programs tab, and then select how you will open Internet Explorer 10 links.
On the Programs page of IEAK 10, select whether to customize or import your program settings.
The following table shows the deprecated Advanced IEM settings, Corporate Settings and Internet Settings, in relation to the Group Policy Preferences or IEAK 10 replacement. Advanced IEM Settings were listed under Programs and only available when running in Preference mode.
These settings specify the location of a file containing settings used to make the browser work best for your corporation.
On the Additional Settings page of IEAK 10, expand Corporate Settings, and then customize how your organization handles temporary Internet files, code downloads, and menu items and toolbar buttons.
These settings specify the location of a file used to preset defaults for Internet Explorer settings. Most of these settings apply to defaults in the Internet Options dialog.
On the Additional Settings page of IEAK 10, expand Internet Settings, and then customize your default values in the Internet Options dialog box.