I looked under Tools/Suggested Sites as suggested in many locations. There is no Suggested Sites under tools. I also went to Internet Options/Advanced/Browsing/Enable Suggested Sites which is useless. Whether this box is checked or unchecked IE8 still suggests sites when searching. I hate the damned thing. If I cannot turn it off I will go back to IE7.
Do I need to restore a HD image back to IE7 and begin all over by installing IE8 and turning it off during setup?
This is absolutely unbelievable but there is no way to turn "suggested searches" off. I unchecked it in Internet Options. That didn't work. I restored a HD image with Acronis True Image back to IE7. Then I re-installed IE8 skipping the default settings and doing a custom installation. I checked the box to turn suggested searches off. But when I started IE8 everytime I began to type anything in the search field a drop down list of suggested searches, some based on previously visited websites, appeared. IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO TURN THIS DAMNED THING OFF! I wonder why MS bothers to provide an option to turn it off when it can't be.
I am going to fiddle around with this thing for a little while longer. If I can't get it to working I will go back to IE7 permenantly.
Are you talking about the search box in the upper right side? If so, maybe this will help...
Instant Search Box
The Instant Search box lets you search the web using any of your search providers. When you type a search query into the Instant Search box and press enter or click the search button, what you have typed is sent to the selected search provider.
Some search providers offer search suggestions as you type in the Instant Search box. When you use a search provider that supports search suggestions, everything you type in the Instant Search box is sent to your search provider as you type it.
Every time information is sent to your search provider, standard computer information is also sent. If you use a Microsoft search provider, the information sent is subject to the Microsoft Online Privacy Statement. If you use a third-party search provider, use of the information sent will be subject to the third-party's privacy policy.
To turn off search suggestions:
1.Click the arrow to the right of the search box.
2.Click Manage Search Providers.
3.Select the search provider whose suggestions you want to turn off.
4.In the details pane, select Disable suggestions.
5.Repeat steps 3 and 4 for any additional search providers whose suggestions you want to disable.
When you upgrade to Internet Explorer 8, all of your installed search providers can be updated with the latest information on features they offer, such as icons or search suggestions. When you first start Internet Explorer, you are asked “Do you want to download updates for your search providers?” If you answer yes, or choose express settings, Internet Explorer will download the most up-to-date list of search provider information. This is a one-time download, but Internet Explorer will try up to four times if it doesn’t successfully download the file. If you choose not to receive the latest search provider information, the same search providers will be available that you had before upgrading, but they might not have the most up-to-data feature information. No additional information will be downloaded, and only standard computer information will be sent.
I looked under Tools/Suggested Sites as suggested in many locations. There is no Suggested Sites under tools. I also went to Internet Options/Advanced/Browsing/Enable Suggested Sites which is useless. Whether this box is checked or unchecked IE8 still suggests sites when searching. I hate the damned thing. If I cannot turn it off I will go back to IE7.
Do I need to restore a HD image back to IE7 and begin all over by installing IE8 and turning it off during setup?
Hi, Yesterday I installed IE8 and I could not find anyhing under 'Tools' about suggested sites, so I went surfing and found your post. I then looked to see if I could find a way, and I found that there are 2 'Tools'.
One is on the 'Menu bar' and the other is on 'Command bar' You will see on the attachment 'Suggested Sites'
It seems that you may need to manage Seach Providers by disabling suggestions. Pease let me know and if you want me to post a screen shot.
If you want to turn off Suggested Sites permanently in IE 8, then you can import this registry file to do it. (Just rename it to DisableSuggestedSites.reg to get it to run as a registry change entry.)
After trying all the suggestions above, with negative results (the damn Suggested Sites kept on reappearing on my Favorite bar) I decided on drastic actions, and this worked.
I went to Start > Run > regedit – From here I searched for the I edit-searched for “Suggested Sites” and found HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Suggested Sites]
I deleted this registry HKEY and guess what? The damn Suggested Sites are no more!
I have used the system for several days now, with no problem. The tab “Suggested Sites” in the dropdown menu “Tools” is not clickable.