How To Lock Down Internet Explorer
1. Start Windows Notepad. Follow these steps: 
Start Menu -> All Programs -> Accessories -> Notepad 

Alternatively, right-click on the desktop (not an icon, on a blank area of the desktop), select "New," and select "Text Document." 

2. Copy and paste the following into Notepad (everything within the parentheses). This is the rating service code for our special rating service that hates everything! 


(
  (PICS-version 1.0)
  (name "Thumbs Down")
  (description "A fake rating service that doesn't rate anything.")
  (rating-system "http://notreally.madeup")
  (rating-service "http://notreally.madeup")
  (category
    (transmit-as "Please Use The Approved Sites Tab Instead!")
  )
)



3. Pull down the "File" menu of Notepad and pick "Save As..." 

4. In the "File name:" field, type exactly this (copy and paste): 

c:\windows\system32\thumbsdown.rat 

Note: if you leave out the .rat extension it will not work. 

This is correct for most modern Windows computers. Windows NT and 2000 users will need to substitute c:\winnt for c:\windows. If you have installed Windows in a nonstandard place, you will need to account for that. 99% of readers don't need to worry about this. 
5. Click "Save" to save the file. 

6. Exit Notepad (File -> Exit). 

7. Launch Internet Explorer if it is not already open. 

8. Click on the "Tools" menu of Internet Explorer. 

9. Select "Internet Options..." 

10. Select the "Content" tab. 

11. Find the "Content Advisor" box (near the top of the window) and click on "Enable..." 

12. If you have ever used Content Advisor before, you will be prompted for your Content Advisor supervisor password. If not, you will be invited to choose one, and to supply a hint to help you remember it. 

If you have lost your supervisor password, you will need to delete it so that you can set up a new one. See the excellent PC Hell article, How to Remove Content Advisor Password in Internet Explorer. 
13. You will see a message informing you that "Content Advisor has been turned on." Click OK. 
14. Click on "Settings" in the "Content Advisor" box. 

15. Click on the "General" tab. 

16. Make sure "Users can see sites that have no rating" is not checked. Leave "Supervisor can type a password to allow users to view restricted content" checked. Trust me here: you will need to make exceptions and add new allowed sites, and you won't want to come all the way into "Internet Options" just to do that. Things come up. 

17. Click on "Rating Systems..." in the "Rating systems" box. 

18. If you see any Rating Systems listed, select each in turn and click the "Remove" button. You are doing this so that we can set up our special "fake" rating service that doesn't rate any sites. You can add other rating services back later if you change your mind about using this method. 

18. Click the "Add" button. When the list of files appears, select thumbsdown. If you do not see it, you probably didn't save thumbsdown.rat to the right place in step 4. Go back and correct that. 

19. You will see thumbsdown in the list of rating systems. 

20. Click "OK" to close the "Rating Systems" dialog. 

21. Click on the "Approved Sites" tab in Content Advisor. Type in the name of a site you DO want to allow users to access, such as: 

www.boutell.com 

Then click "Always." You don't need the "Never" button as all other sites are already forbidden. You can use the "Remove" button if you add the wrong site by mistake. 

22. Repeat step 21 for as many sites as you wish. You can add more sites later, here in the Content Advisor or via the dialog box that pops up when a user tries to access an unapproved site (only with your password, of course). 

23. Click "OK" again to dismiss "Internet Options."