Like most Web browsers, Internet Explorer 8 has add-ons. But sometimes you may want to get rid of them, even if just temporarily. IE 8 has made it easier to disable and enable your add-ons. Here's how to do it.

Let's say you have the Google Toolbar running in IE 8. You should see an X to the left of the toolbar. It's the familiar X that usually means you can close something. In this case, you'd be right to guess that. Click that X and you'll disable the toolbar.

Now that can be dangerous if other add-ons rely on the one you're disabling. So IE 8 gives you a lovely list of any dependent add-ons and the option to disable them at the same time. Once you've made your selections, press the Disable button and the add-on will disappear.

What if you want it back?

Go to tools and select Manage Add-ons.

Select the type of add-on, in our example from above, it would be a toolbar.

Scroll down until you find your toolbar. And press enable.

IE 8 will suggest re-enabling any related add-ons you disabled earlier. Press enable again, then press close.

In the case of the toolbar, even though I had enabled it, it still didn't show up. I had to go to View, select toolbars and select the Google Toolbar to make it viewable.

If you want to browse through all the add-ons available for IE 8, visit www.ieaddons.com.

Internet Explorer 8 has a new feature that lets you get a lot done just by highlighting words on a Web page. Here's how to take advantage.

Highlight any text on a Web page by holding down the left mouse button and dragging your cursor over the words. You'll see a blue box with an arrow. Click on that and you'll get a list of options.

If, for instance, you're highlighting an address, you can choose to map it on Google Maps, pinpointing the location. It can also do regular Web searches.

Let's say you're reading a column and you want to know more about the author. Highlight the author's name and choose search. You'll get search results for that person. You can also translate a phrase, e-mail certain text, and even blog with Windows live.

These options are called Accelerators by Microsoft. If you want to customize your options, highlight text, click the blue box, then select all accelerators--that gives you a bunch more options, including the capability to manage accelerators. Select that option. From there, you can disable or remove accelerators. Or click Find more accelerators and you'll go to a page where you can add many more.