How to block ads in MSIE 8 (works at work too ;))

First, sorry for the long delay between updates, busy times at the moment, unfortunately. I’m still around, though (you have no idea how much spam I filter from comments every day…).
Anyway. At work, I have a very locked-down computer. Well, kind of the usual stuff, but I got used not to have it. I can still run portable apps, but because my local space is very limited too, I can only run them either from my USB key or from the network. Both options turn out to be very slow, so in the end I mainly just use… IE8. Yes, I know, “ouch”. Could be worse, though: a few year ago it would have been IE6…

Browsing from Internet Explorer 8 surprisingly isn’t too bad actually. Most sites work just fine, even those showing big red warnings about my browser being outdated (what a scoop, eh). The only problem is: the f—ing ads and trackers. I mean, I don’t mind seing my anonymousads ads, or ligatus ads. But Google Ads or some terrible rollover ads that you can’t close without clicking: hell no. But, how to block ads in Internet Explorer on a PC where I can’t install anything? I saw a few ad-blocking programs for IE, but they required installation. I eventually found that MSIE itself has a feature which allows you to block ads: InPrivate.

To use it, pretty simple:

• first enable it (Tools -> InPrivate Filtering)
• then configure it (Tools -> InPrivate Filtering settings). By default, it seems to just block mainly some Google and Facebook stuff. You’ll probably want to import a more complete list. Gladly, someone there did it, by converting an AdBlockPlus list into MSIE’s InPrivate XML format. Download the filter list, then unzip it. In the InPrivate settings, click on “Advanced Settings”, then on “Import”, and pick the XML rule files.
• All done. Click OK everywhere, and now most ads should be blocked. The list is a little bit old and incomplete, but the remaining ads shoudn’t be too annoying nor a privacy problem. If on the contrary it’s blocking too much and breaking some designs, you can grab a smaller list by browsing the thread (I linked you to the latest list, which is about 3 times bigger than the first one).

Sources:

• http://www.ghacks.net/2009/04/08/internet-explorer-8-ad-blocking/ (some pictures there ;))
• http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/coolstuff/Block-Ads-Using-IE8