BROWSING YOUR BROWSER
1. Update Internet Explorer
From time to time, Internet Explorer is updated to repair problems in the software and to plug security holes. You should regularly check whether your browser has been updated and, if so, download and install the update. Check www.microsoft.com/windows/ie for the most recent update. It is free.
To find out if you have the most recent version of Internet Explorer, open your IE browser, left click on the Help button on the Menu Bar, and then left click on About Internet Explorer.
2. Select a Home Page
When you find a page that you would like to see whenever you load your browser, set the page as your browser’s Home Page. First display your choice of home page on the screen. Then choose Tools from your browser’s menu bar. Click Internet Options. Click on Use Current in the Home Page box. Click on OK.
3. Customize Your Browser’s Toolbar
You can customize your browser’s toolbars to display the buttons you use and remove those you don’t. There are also additional buttons, which aren’t displayed by default. To see what is available choose View|Toolbars|Customize, and add or remove buttons.
When you come upon a Web page that you would like to reference later, click on Favorites on the Menu Bar, click Add to Favorites, rename the Web page if you desire, the click OK.
A pile of Favorites makes a great way to bookmark your top-drawer Web sites for easy access, but eventually this constantly growing list of handy shortcuts can become as unwieldy as the Web itself. You can keep the really, really important sites—the sort you read day in and day out—at your fingertips. The Links toolbar atop your browser window cradles quick-click buttons offering direct connections to a handful of paramount pages. In addition, all Web pages stored in the Links folder are accessible from the Taskbar on your Desktop.
Open your Browser, click on File on the Menu Bar. Click Import and Export. Click next on Import/Export Wizard. Click Export Favorites. Select Favorite Folder(s) you want to export. Click next. Browse for the folder or drive to which you want to export your Favorites. Then click on Save, Next, and Finish.
6. View Web Pages You Have Recently Visited
If you’ve forgotten to add a frequently used web page to your Favorites, you may be able to find it by viewing your History list, which is a list of all the pages you’ve recently visited. Click the History button (the icon looks like a Sundial) on the Toolbar. A popup menu will appear on the left side of the screen. This popup menu will display all the Web pages in your History. The menu will disappear when you click on the close box in the upper right corner or click again on the History button.
Your History list contains the hyperlinks to pages you have visited on the Internet. This gives you quick access to recently viewed pages.
To change the number of days that pages are stored in the History list: Access your Browser. Click on Tools on the Menu Bar. Click on Internet Options. Then examine the History Section. You can either increase or decrease the number of days (from 0 to 99) to keep pages in History. You can also clear your History by clicking on the Clear History button. Then click OK.
8. Keep Your Search List Intact.
When viewing search engine results, you’ll lose your search list if you simply click a link. Instead, keep the search results visible in their own window by holding down on the SHIFT KEY as you click on a hyperlink. As you click on various links, you will notice that the icon references to each will accumulate on the Taskbar so that you will have access to them.
9. Increase the Print Size on Most Web Pages
When you find yourself on a Web site where the typeface is too small to read comfortably, you can alter your browser’s type setting to increase the type size. This strategy doesn’t work on all pages, but it will with most. Choose View from the Menu Bar. Point toText Size. Click on Larger or Largest.
10. Get a Bigger View of a Web Page
You will find that the less space your browser buttons take up, the more visible screen you have for surfing. The F11 key will toggle to a full-screen view. When you need to access your browser’s menu bar or address bar, simply press the F11 key again.
11. Share your Web Page Finds with a Friend Via Email
When you are browsing the Web and you find a page that you would like to share with a friend or family member, send it to them. Choose File from your browser’s Menu bar. Point to Send. Click on Send Link by Email. Your email program will load and you can type the recipient’s email address and click Send.
Internet Explorer lets you find information on related sites when you have a site on the screen. In this practice exercise: Go to your Internet Home Page. At the Address Bar, type landsend.com. At the Landsend Home Page, click on Tools on the Menu Bar. Click on Show Related Links to see a list of other related sites. Each one of the related links is an active hyperlink; clicking on one of them will take you to that related Web page. Click on the close box in the upper right corner to close the Related Links pane.
If you work connected to the Web, Links to some of your favorites give you the convenience of your browser being available without you having to give up the system resources, which it uses.
To add the Links bar to your Taskbar in Windows 98 or above: Right-click on your taskbar. Select Toolbars and then click on Links.
To copy one of your favorite Web pages to the Links Bar: Open the target Web page. Click on Favorites on the Menu Bar. Click on Add to Favorites. Click on Create in: Links. Assign the Link a name that makes sense to you. Click OK.
When you click on the Links button that appears on your Taskbar, the target Web page will appear on the list. Single click on the Web page button and you will be taken to the Web page.
14. Place Web Shortcuts on Your Desktop
If you have a Web page that you visit regularly, you can add its shortcut to your desktop: View the page in your browser. Right-click anywhere on the page that is not a hyperlink. Choose Create Shortcut. Click OK. A shortcut to the Web page will now appear on your Desktop.
15. Save a Web Page for Later Viewing Offline
You can make an entire Web page available for viewing offline: View the target page in your browser. Left click on the File button on the Menu Bar. Left click on Save As. The Save As dialogue box will appear. Change the “Save in” box to read Desktop. Click “Save.”
16. Copy Text From the Web to a Word Processing Document
Copy text from a Web page directly into any word processor by highlighting the text on the Web page with your mouse, choose Edit, and select Copy. Switch to your word processor and choose Edit, then Paste Special to paste the text into your document. By selecting Paste Special, you will have the option of pasting in Rich Test Format (rtf) or others rather than HTML (hypertext markup language).
17. Add a Web Page Address Bar to Your Taskbar
If you work connected to the Web (Cox Cable, for example), the Address bar gives you the convenience of your browser being available without you having to give up the system resources, which it uses. To add the Address bar in Windows 98 or above: Right-click on your taskbar and move the pointer up to Toolbars. Left click on Address. Insert any URL onto this toolbar, and your browser will open, displaying the selected page.
18. Reload Slow Pages
If your browser seems to be loading a page very slowly, you may benefit from stopping the current load and beginning again. To do this choose Stop or press ESC to stop the load and choose the Refresh, or Go button to begin again.
19. Make a Correction If You Click on the Wrong Link
When you realize you’ve made a mistake clicking a link, and you want to stop the page from loading, press ESC or click the Stop button on your browser’s toolbar. Then click the Back button on the browser toolbar to return to the original page.
20. Stop Slow-Loading Animations/Graphics
If you are viewing a Web page and find the animated images are becoming annoying, you can stop them from playing by clicking the Stop button on your browser’s toolbar. Just make sure the page is finished loading before you do this.
When you want to surf faster, and you can do without picture images, turn off image display. In your browser, choose Tools| Internet Options|Advanced|Multimedia. Deselect the Show Pictures checkbox.
When surfing with image display turned off, you can still view an image when you want. The presence of an image will be indicated by a box on the screen. Right-click this and select Show Picture.
23. Download More Than One File at the Same Time
24 Use the Right Mouse Button for Convenience
Develop a habit of using the right mouse button wherever you are in your browser. Right-clicking on the toolbar generally lets you customize toolbars and menus. Right-clicking on a Web page will give you context-sensitive options. While it doesn’t always work, when it does you get quick access to options allowing you to bypass the menus.
25. Use Print Preview to See What a Printed Web Page will Look Like
Internet Explorer includes a Print Preview feature. Because a Web page doesn’t have a fixed length, it can occupy many printed pages. Print Preview lets you see exactly what a printed Web page will look like. Select Print Preview from the File menu. You can then use the scrollbar to view the entire page, the Back and Forward arrows to view each page, or the down arrow next to the percentage field to scale the page view to a different size. Click Print to select a page range for printing or Close to return to the normal view.
A Very Small Glossary of Internet Terms Related to the Browser:
Browser
Also called a Web browser. Software for viewing Web pages. Microsoft Internet Explorer is the most popular browser, supplied free with all Windows operating systems.
Cookies
Files containing information created by Web sites that are stored on the user's hard disk. Browsers pick up cookies at some Web sites (unless you configure them not to) and drop them on your computer in a cookies.txt file. Web servers use the cookies to keep track of your patterns and preferences. When you go back to the site that gave you the cookie, the Web server recognizes you and can deliver customized information.
Domain name
The main part of a URL or Internet address that is its unique identification. The domain is the name associated with a connected group of computers. It consists of at least two parts, separated by dots. Aol.com, lvcm.com, msn.com, prodigy.com, earthlink,net, juno.com, and yahoo.com, are all examples of a domain name. The suffixes at the end of all domain names indicate what kind of site it is: .edu is used for schools, .gov for government agencies, .org for nonprofit organizations, .mil for the military, .net for network organizations, and the most common, .com for commercial business.
Download
To copy a file from a remote computer to your computer. You can download a whole program which you would then install on your computer, or you may simply download a Web page which displays in your browser temporarily.
Favorites
A saved address of an Internet site that can be quickly loaded and displayed in the Microsoft Internet Explorer browser.
Helper application
Your Web browser can't handle all the files it encounters as you surf; it calls on helper applications for special, often multimedia, files you try to access. These applications don't come preinstalled in your browser; you must install and configure them so that they take over when your browser comes across an audio or video file. Real Player (audio), Real Audio, and Acrobat Reader (Portable Document Format files) are examples.
Homepage
Also home page. The main page or first page of a Web site. Homepages of individuals are usually referred to as personal homepages.
Hyperlink
A link from one Web page to another page at the same site or to another site somewhere else on the Web. The link is often from text (hypertext) but may be from an image. In either case, you will notice the link if you hold your mouse cursor over the link, because a hyperlink will change the cursor to a pointing hand icon.
"Net" for short. A decentralized computer network connecting tens of thousands of smaller computer networks all around the globe. Any computer can communicate with any other computer on this network.
Internet Service Provider. America Online, Compuserve, Prodigy, and Earthlink are all examples of ISPs, companies that provide access to the Internet, as well as other types of services, such as original content, email, gaming, and Web page development. An ISP owns or rents the equipment required to host clients on the Internet. Larger ISPs have their own high-speed leased lines so that they are less dependent on the telephone companies and can provide better customer service.
Search engine
A program that searches for information and Web sites on the Internet. AltaVista , Yahoo, AskJeeves, and Google are just a few of the most popular search engines.
URL (Uniform Resource Locator)
A URL is an Internet "address." All URLs follow the same structure. The first part, before the two slashes, is the protocol. HTTP is the protocol used on the Web, so all Web addresses begin with http. What follows is the name of the server, and then the path. The path refers to the name of the file or folder that has the information you are looking for. The URL for the Computer Club’s homepage is http://www.scscc.com.
Virus
Viruses are small computer programs designed to make copies of themselves over and over. The viruses need "hosts" to live in; they attach themselves to other programs and reproduce when the other programs are run. You can get "infected" by a virus in two ways: by downloading infected files or programs from a network, or by inserting an infected disk into your computer. But, in each case, you need to run the program to become infected. Some viruses, like macro viruses, are relatively harmless, others can crash and paralyze your whole computer. Viruses can NOT be spread in an email message, but they can be spread in an email attachment.
A document on the Web that can be displayed by your Web browser.
Web site
A particular "place," or set of pages, on the Web. A homepage is the top page, or main page, of a Web site.
Also WWW, or Web for short. The part of the Internet that allows you to navigate through all kinds of graphical information. To view the Web, you'll probably use Windows Internet Explorer. Information on the Web is formatted into "pages." Each page contains some text and possibly pictures, sound or even video. A page is actually a file stored on a remote computer somewhere on the Net.