How To Disable IE Enhanced Security - Windows PowerShell

Overview

In this post we will walk-through the process of disabling Internet Explorer's Enhanced Security.

By default registry key value of IsInstalled is set to “1”, which means is IE Enhanced Security configuration is “Enabled”. If the registry key value is set to “0” then IE Enhanced Security configuration is disabled.

Applies To

Tested on Windows 10, Windows 2008 R2 and Windows 2012.

Pre-Requisites

Launch PowerShell Command Console or PowerShell ISE.

To run this script, Execution Policy should be set to either of these “AllSigned” or “RemoteSigned” or “Unrestricted”, you can get current execution policy by running the command; “Get-ExecutionPolicy”

Policy Type	Purpose
Restricted	No scripts can be run. Windows PowerShell can be used only in interactive mode.
AllSigned	Only scripts signed by a trusted publisher can be run.
RemoteSigned	Downloaded scripts must be signed by a trusted publisher before they can be run.
Unrestricted	No restrictions; all Windows PowerShell scripts can be run.

PowerShell Script - Disable Internet Explorer's Enhanced Security

The script posted in this article will read the system's registry key and the value set for component and its configured value, if configuration is already disabled, it will display IsInstalled Registry key value which is set to “0” when the configuration is disabled.

Code Snippet

#
# Define Environment Variables
# Define Registry Key for Admin and Current User for IE Enhanced Security 
#
$IE_ES_Admin_Key="HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components\{A509B1A7-37EF-4b3f-8CFC-4F3A74704073}"
$IE_ES_User_Key="HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components\{A509B1A8-37EF-4b3f-8CFC-4F3A74704073}"
#
# Check Registry Key - System Profile Key Exists
#
Clear-Host
if ((Test-Path -Path $IE_ES_Admin_Key)) {
    $ARegistryValue=(Get-ItemProperty -Path $IE_ES_Admin_Key -Name IsInstalled).IsInstalled
    if ($IE_ES_Admin_Key -ne "") {
    if ($ARegistryValue -eq "" -or $ARegistryValue -ne 1)  {
        Write-Host `n$IE_ES_Admin_Key -BackgroundColor Black -ForegroundColor Green
        Write-Host "`nIE Enhanced Security is Already Disabled for Admin ......"
        write-host `n`nCurrently Registry Value is set to  $ARegistryValue `, No changes have been done. -ForegroundColor Black -BackgroundColor White
        [console]::Beep(600,800)
    } elseif ($ARegistryValue -eq 1) {
        Clear-Host
        Write-Host "`nIE Enhanced Security is Currently Enabled for Admin ......"
        Get-ItemProperty -Path $IE_ES_Admin_Key | Select-Object PSPath, IsInstalled, PSDrive | fl
        Read-Host "Press Any Key..." | Out-Null
        Write-Host "`nDisabling Now.. $IE_ES_Admin_Key `n`n##### Shown is the Updated Setting ####" -ForegroundColor DarkYellow -BackgroundColor Black
        [console]::Beep(600,800)
        Set-ItemProperty -Path $IE_ES_Admin_Key -Name "IsInstalled" -Value 0 -Force
        Get-ItemProperty -Path $IE_ES_Admin_Key | Select-Object PSPath, IsInstalled, PSDrive | fl
        }
    }
} 
#
# Check Registry Key - User Profile Key Exists
#
if ((Test-Path -Path $IE_ES_User_Key)) {
    $URegistryValue=(Get-ItemProperty -Path $IE_ES_User_Key -Name IsInstalled).IsInstalled
    if ($URegistryValue -eq "" -or $URegistryValue -ne 1)  {
        Write-Host `n$IE_ES_User_Key -BackgroundColor Black -ForegroundColor Green
        Write-Host "`nIE Enhanced Security is Already Disabled for User ......"
        write-host `n`nCurrently Registry Value is set to $URegistryValue `, No changes have been done.`n -ForegroundColor Black -BackgroundColor White
        [console]::Beep(600,800)
    } elseif ($URegistryValue -eq 1) {
        Write-Host "`nIE Enhanced Security is Currently Enabled for User ......"
        Get-ItemProperty -Path $IE_ES_User_Key | Select-Object PSPath, IsInstalled, PSDrive | fl
        Read-Host "Press Any Key..." | Out-Null
        Write-Host "`nDisabling Now.. $IE_ES_Admin_Key `n`n##### Shown is the Updated Setting ####" -ForegroundColor DarkYellow -BackgroundColor Black
        [console]::Beep(600,800)
        Set-ItemProperty -Path $IE_ES_User_Key -Name "IsInstalled" -Value 0 -Force
        Get-ItemProperty -Path $IE_ES_User_Key | Select-Object PSPath, IsInstalled, PSDrive | fl
    }
    } else {
    Write-Host "`nIE Enahanced Security Registry Keys in (Admin and User) - Is Not Configured"
    Write-host "`n $IE_ES_Admin_Key `n $IE_ES_User_Key " -ForegroundColor Black -BackgroundColor Cyan
    Write-Host "`nReigstry Key Not Found!" -ForegroundColor White -BackgroundColor Red
    [console]::Beep(600,700)
}

PowerShell Output

In this example we will capture different possibilities of registry configured values;

Registry Key – Already Configured

If the registry key is already configured; below screenshot will be displayed.

Registry Key – Admin Profile Enabled

Registry key for Admin key that is configured as per the below registry location;

HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components\{A509B1A7-37EF-4b3f-8CFC-4F3A74704073}

Registry Key – User Profile Enabled

Registry key for User key that is configured as per the below registry location;

HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components\{A509B1A8-37EF-4b3f-8CFC-4F3A74704073}

Registry Key – Not Configured

If the system is not configured on both Admin and User registry key; Script will not modify registry key and script will display message as per the below screenshot.

Note / Disclaimer: Modifying and revoking registry can result in system crash and system might not be recoverable. This blog is for only informational or reading purposes only.

Slideshare Information

Step by step guide is uploaded to slideshare.

How To Disable IE Enhanced Security Windows PowerShell from VCP Muthukrishna