Another Hack by the pickle: Hacking your Microsoft Internet Explorer Tools Menu URLs

So I just switched to MS IE 5 from Netscape Communicator 4.7 recently...I love the new browser (which is about the most endorsement I'll ever give to a Microsoft product) but noticed one really suspicious thing in it: the Tools menu conveniently lists MSN.com, Hotmail, and MS Encarta as "helpful" web sites. Silly Microsoft :-P To change any of these...

1. Open a COPY of your Internet Explorer application with your resource editor of choice.
2. Open up the 'STR#' resources.
3. Open resource ID #6113, which is untitled. Give it a more useful name (I named mine "Tools Menu URLs") if you like.
4. I don't have any particular recommendations for what you put in here, but you can change it to any URL you want. You might like to link "Hotmail" to your favourite web-based e-mail account and "Encarta" to your favourite online encyclopedia.
5. Once you change these "Tools" to URLs of your choice, you probably want to fix the menu so it reflects your changes. Open up the 'MENU' resources.
6. Open resource ID #265, the Tools menu. Click on the menu item you wish to change and type the new text in the appropriate box.

If you wish, you can also delete these three menu items entirely, with no apparent ill effect. (At least, no apparent ill effect in the two minutes I checked it out.)

DISCLAIMER: I take no responsibility for ANY damage you do to your computer, your software, yourself, or others as a result of this hack. YOU, the user, are ENTIRELY RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR OWN ACTIONS. Recognition with which this hack has been honoured:

• Featured on ResExcellence, Wednesday, 13 September 2000.