Disable IE security on Windows Server via PowerShell

Question

it happens all the time, I spin up a vm with windows server and I can't access the internet because of IE security. Does anyone have a straight-forward PowerShell script for disabling IE security?

Solution 1

function Disable-InternetExplorerESC {
    $AdminKey = "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components\{A509B1A7-37EF-4b3f-8CFC-4F3A74704073}"
    $UserKey = "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components\{A509B1A8-37EF-4b3f-8CFC-4F3A74704073}"
    Set-ItemProperty -Path $AdminKey -Name "IsInstalled" -Value 0
    Set-ItemProperty -Path $UserKey -Name "IsInstalled" -Value 0
    Stop-Process -Name Explorer
    Write-Host "IE Enhanced Security Configuration (ESC) has been disabled." -ForegroundColor Green
}
function Enable-InternetExplorerESC {
    $AdminKey = "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components\{A509B1A7-37EF-4b3f-8CFC-4F3A74704073}"
    $UserKey = "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components\{A509B1A8-37EF-4b3f-8CFC-4F3A74704073}"
    Set-ItemProperty -Path $AdminKey -Name "IsInstalled" -Value 1
    Set-ItemProperty -Path $UserKey -Name "IsInstalled" -Value 1
    Stop-Process -Name Explorer
    Write-Host "IE Enhanced Security Configuration (ESC) has been enabled." -ForegroundColor Green
}
function Disable-UserAccessControl {
    Set-ItemProperty "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System" -Name "ConsentPromptBehaviorAdmin" -Value 00000000
    Write-Host "User Access Control (UAC) has been disabled." -ForegroundColor Green    
}

drop this into a .ps1 file

then at the prompt type a period, a space and the path to the file something like this:

[PS 1] . C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop\YourPowerShellScript.ps1

Then you can call the command at the prompt:

[PS 1] Disable-InternetExplorerESC

Solution 2

The below modification has added -Force parameters to avoid any confirmations. I was prompted to do this when prompted to confirm that I wanted to end the "explorer" process..

function Disable-InternetExplorerESC {
    $AdminKey = "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components\{A509B1A7-37EF-4b3f-8CFC-4F3A74704073}"
    $UserKey = "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components\{A509B1A8-37EF-4b3f-8CFC-4F3A74704073}"
    Set-ItemProperty -Path $AdminKey -Name "IsInstalled" -Value 0 -Force
    Set-ItemProperty -Path $UserKey -Name "IsInstalled" -Value 0 -Force
    Stop-Process -Name Explorer -Force
    Write-Host "IE Enhanced Security Configuration (ESC) has been disabled." -ForegroundColor Green
}
function Enable-InternetExplorerESC {
    $AdminKey = "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components\{A509B1A7-37EF-4b3f-8CFC-4F3A74704073}"
    $UserKey = "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components\{A509B1A8-37EF-4b3f-8CFC-4F3A74704073}"
    Set-ItemProperty -Path $AdminKey -Name "IsInstalled" -Value 1 -Force
    Set-ItemProperty -Path $UserKey -Name "IsInstalled" -Value 1 -Force
    Stop-Process -Name Explorer
    Write-Host "IE Enhanced Security Configuration (ESC) has been enabled." -ForegroundColor Green
}
function Disable-UserAccessControl {
    Set-ItemProperty "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System" -Name "ConsentPromptBehaviorAdmin" -Value 00000000 -Force
    Write-Host "User Access Control (UAC) has been disabled." -ForegroundColor Green    
}
Disable-UserAccessControl
Disable-InternetExplorerESC