CLAN Support: Internet Explorer Content Advisor

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How to setup Internet Explorer Content Advisor

Microsoft Internet Explorer has a feature called "Content Advisor" that is supposed to enable a user to restrict the type of sites that can be viewed in the web browser. Content Advisor is seldom used, because it requires web sites to do self-rating. However, Content Advisor can cause problems in a library if a Supervisor password isn't set by staff before the web browser is made available for public use. If a patron sets this password, it may be impossible to browse any web sites!

1. Turn Content Advisor on
Before anyone uses IE on a public computer, turn on Content Advisor and set a Supervisor Password. In the IE menus, do: Tools, Internet Options, Content, Enable, General. Then click on the Change Password button and enter your password (the "old pasword" is left blank). Then click OK.

2. Disable Content Advisor
After you have set the Supervisor password, you must disable it. You should do this because IE Content Advisor blocks sites that have no rating. Go back to Tools, Internet Options, Content. Click on the Disable button. Enter the password you selected for Content Advisor, and then click OK.
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How to remove the Internet Explorer Content Advisor password

A user may "accidentally" set the IE Content Advisor Password before you've had the opportunity to set it. If this happens, you can remove it by following this procedure.

Caution! This procedure requires editing the Windows Registry. Make a backup of the Registry before you continue.

1. Open the registry editor and browse to the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ MICROSOFT \ WINDOWS \ CURRENTVERSION \ POLICIES \ RATINGS

 2. Click on the folder named "Ratings" in the left pane of Regedit. In the right pane, you will see a value named "key" that represents the content advisor password in encrypted form. Right-click on this value and choose Delete. Exit the registry editor.

3. Open Windows Explorer and delete the file C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\RATINGS.POL

4. Shut down and reboot the computer.

5. After you restart Windows, go into IE and check Tools, Internet Options, Content Advisor. The Settings button should now be grayed out, and the Enable button will be visible.
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Error Message: Please Check Your Content Advisor Settings for Missing Information

When you try to start Internet Explorer, you may receive the following error message:
    Content Advisor
    Please check your Content Advisor settings for missing information. Click the Tools menu and then click Internet Options. On the Content tab check the Content Advisor settings.
This error is caused by a damaged or duplicate RATINGS.POL file. To fix this problem, find and delete any copies of RATINGS.POL. Then Start IE, and go to Tools, Internet Options, Content. Click on Settings in the Content Advisor area. Type the Supervisor password. Change the ratings option if necessary, and click OK. Close IE and restart it.

The information in this section is based on MS Knowledge Base articles Q242037 and Q154999

Ocean State Libraries
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