IE 6 Window Sizing (challenging solution)

[cyberrico]

I opened this discussion at UTC and am having the problem in a new way.

Simply put, I want to be able to control what size my windows open when I click on a link in IE 6.

Here's what I do know.

When I open my browser for the first time, it is fullscreen. If I want it to open by a different size by default, I simply need to resize the window and close it. When I open it again, it opens to the size of my last primary window when I closed it. So if I want to make my browser a 1/4 of it's normal size opening on the top left corner, all I have to do is open my browser, set it to that size and location and close it. When I open it again, it will be the same size in the same location.

Now when I click on a link on a page in an already open browser, it will sometimes open in a new window. A good example is in these forums (or at least it was at utc). I could link to Yahoo . If you click on that link, it will open in a new window that is less than fullscreen.

What I want to be able to do is control the size of that new window. I know that I can resize the window and close it. When I click that link again, it will be the size of the resize I just did. However, the resizing cannot touch the edge of the screen. If it does, IE 6 ignores the resize change and will stay with the old default new window size.

Here's the problem. Some sites have links that open in new windows and have a predetermined size. Now that goes for full windows, not the little mini windows that don't have file, edit, etc. on them.

Big deal, just maximize or resize every time, right? That is what I have been doing for years, no problem. I must have gone to a site that defaults new windows in a screwed up way. All new link windows are now a zero size. They look minimized, but when I click on the toolbar to pull them up, nothing happens. If I right click and select maximize, I get a fullscreen of the link. This is a HUGE pain.

I once and for all would love to find a registry hack or shareware title that defaults all IE 6 browser window sizes to whatever I want. Heck I would be estatic if I could continually default everything to fully maximized.

I realize this sounds like a small problem. And sure, it is. But I have yet to find a solution.

Thanks in advance.

[RipperRoo]

i hate to say it but your only option is too use a different browser
netscape/mozila or one of many others,
heres a link to a list of browsers on yahoo
Link

hope this is usefull

[Tryptoboz]

Your not alone cyberrico, I would love to have IE6 fully maximized at launch every time. I have never came across anything either, but will continue to search. It would save me thousands of clicks a year.

[cyberrico]

Amen, brother. Thousands of clicks a day for me.

I vow to scour the web eternally until I find an answer.

I will share my findings. Oh and yes, a different browser would do it, but I'd rather learn a fix for this as I know of other who have this problem.

[mattd]

It's been a while since I used the program, but this sounds to me like a job for The Proxomitron. You should be able to define a filter that (a) removes size parameters from new pages, so that they just default to whatever your current size is, and/or (b) add a "maximized" size parameter to every page.

You can check out this totally cool (and totally free) app at its homepage.

[cyberrico]

I have been playing with The Proxomitron for about an hour and am stumped as how I could do it. I will continue to work with it though.

[Petlydecker]

I take my cursor and bring the edges of my IE 6 browser to were I want it. Then I keep the control button pressed and take my mouse and click the file button on the toolbar. Then while continuing to hold down the control button I click the close button. From that point on my extra windows always open to were I just adjusted them too. Hope it works for you, can't promise it will.

[cyberrico]

Ok, I found the partial solution. Do the following registry hack.

Close IE (very important)

Delete "Window_Placement" from

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main

Open IE and Maxamise. Once closed IE will re-write the value with the new window placement.

This fixes my zero-sized window problem. There must be a way to edit that Window_Placement entry to always maximise and then lock it so no web sites could reconfigure this entry. Haven't figured it out, but I'm no registry genius either.

Let me know if any of you do.

[RipperRoo]

Originally posted by cyberrico


I must buy that man a beer.

make an orderly line, cause they'll be a long queue at the bar that night :cheers

[Cirga]

Originally posted by cyberrico
I have been playing with The Proxomitron for about an hour and am stumped as how I could do it. I will continue to work with it though.

To get proximitron to work properly on your browser you need to go to "Tools" then "Internet Options" then "Connections" and go to "LAN Settings". Put a check in the box that says "Use a proxy".. then click on the Advanced box.

Once you are in there fill it in like i have in the attached screenshot. Then wala.. you are now going through your own little proxy.

[cyberrico]

I posted a solution this morning, but it didn't seem to stick.

I found software that automatically maximizes windows in IE 5 and 6.

IE New Window Maximizer

It uses no resources in the background.

Awesome program.

Thanks all for your responses.

[mattd]

I have tested the procedure below and it doesn't work. The script is properly inserted into every web page and no error is reported, but the pages don't resize. I made a simple page containing only this script and some text and it did resize properly, so the problem is not with the script itself (or with my other Proxomitron settings). Maybe someone who actually knows something about HTML and JS and whatnot could check this out and see if they can figure out what the problem is. Anyway, here's what I did:

***

I found this script at www.dynamicdrive.com. It's a short JS that maximizes a new browser window when it's opened. What we need to do is find a way to put this into every web page.

We can do that with The Proxomitron by defining a new web filter. I think the easiest thing to do would be to put the script as the last item in front of the </head> tag, since then it would override (I think, at least) any other size script in the <head> section.

Our Proxomitron filter, then, should be:

"Matching Expression" = </head>

"Replacement Text" =

<script language="JavaScript1.2">
<!--

/***********************************************
* Auto Maximize Window Script- © Dynamic Drive (www.dynamicdrive.com)
* This notice must stay intact for use
* Visit http://www.dynamicdrive.com/ for this script and 100's more.
***********************************************/

top.window.moveTo(0,0);
if (document.all) {
top.window.resizeTo(screen.availWidth,screen.avail Height);
}
else if (document.layers||document.getElementById) {
if (top.window.outerHeight<screen.availHeight||top.wi ndow.outerWidth<screen.availWidth){
top.window.outerHeight = screen.availHeight;
top.window.outerWidth = screen.availWidth;
}
}
//-->
</script>
</head>

We should leave "URL Match" blank since we want this to go into every page. We're not matching to wildcards, so we can leave "Bounds Match" blank too. And since there should be only one <head> section on a given page (shouldn't there?) we can leave "Allow for multiple matches" unchecked.

For a name, why not use "Maximize all browser windows"?

***

[mattd]

I see that while I was posting my non-working attempt at a fix, you found a solution. Congratulations.

If anyone can figure out why my fix doesn't work, I'd still be interested.

[cyberrico]

Matt, I suggest sending email to the developer(s) behind IE New Window Maximizer. Perhaps they can make light on the registry hack.

Hey, I think this might be my 200th post. I think I need to go get a life now.