CHAPTER 2

Exploring the Web with Internet Explorer

Now that you've installed Internet Explorer and made an Internet connection through an Internet service provider, let's get you up and "surfing the Web" as quickly as possible!


Contents


Starting Internet Explorer

If you're just setting up, Internet Explorer should be running. Otherwise, double-click The Internet icon on your desktop. Internet Explorer displays the start page. (What you see may vary slightly, depending on the country you live in.) The start page appears every time you start Internet Explorer.

Tip   To learn how to change your start page, see "Changing Your Start and Search Pages and the Links Bar" later in this chapter.

We're going to start "surfing" right away, so please take a few seconds to familiarize yourself with the locations of the following key features. Then we'll look at a few Internet basics.

Screen Shot of the Microsoft Internet Explorer Starter Kit
1. Title bar
2. Menu bar
3. Buttons
4. Address bar
5. Links bar
6. Workspace
7. Status bar

What's on this page?

You'll discover, as you start browsing the Web, that every Web page is different, but there are some common elements. For example:


What's a hyperlink?

A hyperlink is an electronic path to another page or location (URL) on the Internet. Sometimes it appears as a piece of colored and/or underlined text, or perhaps as a picture with or without a colored border around it.

If you're not sure where the hyperlinks are, move the mouse pointer around the screen until the pointer turns into a hand. Notice also that a message appears in the status bar at the bottom of Internet Explorer, indicating that you've pointed to a "Hyperlink to ..." and the name of a new Web page.


What's a URL?

Every Web page has an address, known as the Uniform Resource Locator, or URL. You'll see it in the Address bar, near the top of Internet Explorer, every time you open a new Web page.

Tip   If the Address bar does not appear, click the View menu, click Options, click the General tab, and then look under Toolbars.

A URL usually appears as a string of letters, punctuation and slashes, such as http://www.microsoft.com/, but it may contain numbers as well. (Note that URLs do not use backslashes, as in network paths.) As you become more familiar with the Internet, you might start to remember the addresses you visit frequently. Even if you don't, Internet Explorer can remember them for you.

For more information, see "Finding Out Where You've Been" later in this chapter.

Now, let's start exploring the Internet!


Exploring the Internet

There's no right or wrong way to explore the Internet. You can choose to type Internet addresses in the Address bar, follow a chain of hyperlinks, or use search services to find interesting sites.

Internet Explorer comes with built-in links to some interesting Web sites, including a page full of search services, called the search page. We'll explain the advanced features a little later in this chapter, but first, let's experiment with some basic navigation.


Using the Links bar: A few of our favorite pages

The Links bar, which appears by default near the upper-right corner of Internet Explorer, includes built-in hyperlinks to a few of our favorite Web pages. To open the Links bar, click the word Links or point to the left edge of the bar, and then drag the bar to the left.

Tip   Some Web pages take longer to download than others. If a page takes too long, you can click the Stop button on the toolbar and try again later.

Click any of the icons (hyperlinks) on the Links bar to go to the following Microsoft Web pages.

Hyperlink Internet Destination
Today's Links An ever-changing list of Web pages focused on arts and entertainment, business, sports, and more.
Web Directory Essential pages to make life easier: home reference, financial information, telephone directories, and more.
Web Tutorial Everything you need to know about the Web: tips for beginners to advanced users.
Product Updates Microsoft product updates-find out what's new and what's hot.
Microsoft The Microsoft home page, one of the biggest and most useful sites on the Web.

Feel free to click another hyperlink or two before we explain how to get back to where you began.

Note  To learn how to change these hyperlinks, see " Changing Your Start and Search Pages and the Links Bar" later in this chapter.

If you are not a U.S. customer, some of these pages may not be available in your language.


Paging forward and back

There will be times when you jump to a new Web page and find that you'd rather go back to the previous one.

Tip   You can move through recently viewed Web pages by clicking Forward or Back on the Go menu, or by holding down ALT and pressing the left or right arrow key.


To move back through pages you've already visited

You can usually move backward through all the pages you've visited in the current session until you reach the start page.

After you move backward through one or more pages, you can move forward again to the pages you passed.


To move forward to a page you've already visited

Remember, you can always return to your start page by clicking the Home button on the toolbar or choosing Start Page from the Go menu.


Using the Address bar

More and more individuals, companies, universities, and government agencies are including their Internet addresses in e-mail, correspondence, and advertising. No matter where you get an Internet address, you can go directly to it by using the Address bar.

Tip  To see a list of Internet addresses you've typed into the Address bar, click the arrow on the right side of the bar.


To go directly to a Web page by using the Address bar

If you can't see the Address bar, make sure Toolbar on the View menu has a check mark beside it, and then click Address near the top of Internet Explorer.


Searching the Internet

The search page in Internet Explorer includes links to several Internet and Web search services. Each one of these services works a little differently, but generally speaking, searching for a topic is as easy as typing a keyword or phrase and then clicking a Search button. The search service displays a list of pages that contain the word or phrase you are searching for.

Tip   You never know what you might find on the Internet, and in some cases, you may want to limit access to inappropriate sites. For more information, see "Using Ratings to Limit Internet Access" later in this chapter.

Notes   To learn how to change your search page, see "Changing Your Start and Search Pages and the Links Bar" later in this chapter.

If you are not a U.S. customer, some of these search pages may not be available in your language.


Finding out where you've been

It's easy to spend hours surfing the Web, and almost impossible to remember all the places you've been. Fortunately, Internet Explorer keeps track of the pages you've visited!


To find out where you've been and revisit pages

The History folder is set up to retain shortcuts to the pages you've visited over the past fourteen days. To sort the list according to the most recent visits, click the Last Visited button until today's date appears at the top of the list.

See Also   To learn how to adjust the number of History shortcuts retained, look up "number of pages in the History list, changing" in the Internet Explorer Help Index.


Managing Internet Information

You'll be amazed at the amount of information on the Internet. The information you see can accumulate on your own computer in two ways: you can save pages that you want to keep, and files are saved automatically in a memory cache. For information about how to manage the memory cache, see "Managing Your Cache" in Chapter 3, "Mastering the Internet."

Following are a few tips on how to manage your Web-surfing sessions.


Saving shortcuts to your favorite pages

Sooner or later, you'll find a Web site you know you'll want to visit again and again. There are two ways to make sure you can always return to the site quickly and easily: saving shortcuts in your Favorites folder and creating a shortcut on your desktop.

See Also   To learn how to add a favorite link to the Links bar, see "Changing Your Start and Search Pages and the Links Bar" later in this chapter.


Saving shortcuts in a Favorites folder

You can save favorite Web pages (and other documents) and then select from an organized list in Internet Explorer and go directly to them, a real convenience if you expect to have lots of favorites.

Tip   You can also right-click an empty space on the Web page (or a hyperlink to another page) and then click the Add To Favorites command.


To save a shortcut in the Favorites folder


To view the Favorites folder


To view an item in your Favorites folder

For more information about organizing the Favorites list, see "Managing Your Favorites Folder" later in this chapter.


Creating shortcuts on your desktop

Tip   If Internet Explorer is not maximized, you can copy a hyperlink from within a Web page by dragging it to your desktop.

It's easy to place a shortcut to a page on your desktop. Then you can just double-click the shortcut icon to start Internet Explorer and go to the page.


To place a shortcut on your desktop

You can also send a shortcut to a floppy disk, your Windows Briefcase, or an e-mail recipient.


To send a shortcut


Refreshing a page

When you open a Web page for the first time, Internet Explorer saves the pictures and text in a memory cache. When you return to a page you've already visited, Internet Explorer can either show you what's in the cache or return to the page to see if anything has changed.

By showing you what's already in memory, Internet Explorer saves the time it takes to reconnect and re-download the same Web page. But if you suspect something may have changed since your last visit-for example a stock price or a news item-you might want to refresh the page.


To refresh a page

To save download time, you might want to use the Refresh button on a regular basis and specify that Internet Explorer not check for new information at all.


To change how often Internet Explorer refreshes a page

For information about how to manage the memory cache, see "Managing Your Cache" in Chapter 3, "Mastering the Internet."


Searching for information on a page

Most Web pages are fairly short, but some can be quite long. If you can't tell whether the information you're looking for is on a particular page, you can use the Find feature to look for key words and phrases.


To search for information on a Web page

You can repeat the search, with new words and phrases, as many times as you like.


Printing a Web page

One way to save information from the Internet, so that you don't have to reconnect to view it again, is to print the entire page. Internet Explorer can even print the URLs associated with each hyperlink.

Tip   You can also print by holding down the CTRL key and pressing P.


To print a Web page

Internet Explorer does not print background textures or pictures when you use the Print button, but you can print pictures separately. To learn how to save and print pictures, see "Saving Pictures" later in this chapter.

Saving Internet text

There may be times when you would like to save the text from a Web page so you don't have to reconnect to the Internet to find it.


To save the text from a Web page

You can also save the text from a page without opening the page.


To save the text from an unopened page

Although Internet Explorer can't save pictures as part of the page, you can save these elements separately.


Saving Pictures

The Internet, and the World Wide Web in particular, are full of interesting pictures. If you find one you'd like to keep, you can save it to your computer.

Tips  To save a picture as desktop wallpaper, right-click it, and then click Set As Wallpaper.

To copy a picture to the Clipboard, so you can paste it into another document, right-click it, and then click Copy.


To save pictures


Personalizing Your Internet Experience

Tired of using a Web browser that was built for someone else? You can use Internet Explorer features to make the Web your own.

With a few simple mouse clicks, you can change the size and position of your toolbar, organize a listing of your favorite pages into folders, and create a unique MSN™ start page that provides daily updates for your favorite stocks, Web sites, cartoons, sports, and news.

Customizing the toolbar

The Internet Explorer toolbar comes with so many features we actually had to minimize the Links bar to make everything fit. Some people like it that way, others want to see everything that's available, and still others want the toolbar as minimal as possible.

That's why we gave you the ability to change Internet Explorer, based on your preferences.

Tip   You can change the size of the text by clicking the Font button on the toolbar.

See Also   For information about changing colors and fonts, look up "Changing how a page is displayed" and "Displaying text larger or smaller" in Internet Explorer Help.


Changing the size and position of the toolbar

If you want to see more of the toolbar, or you find that you need more space on your computer screen, you can resize or reposition the toolbar.


Changing what's on the toolbar

Some people like toolbars fully loaded with options. Others like the lean look. Now you can choose for yourself what appears on the Internet Explorer toolbar.


Changing your start and search pages and the Links bar

Internet Explorer comes with some hyperlinks (and the start and search pages) already defined, but if you find a page you would rather visit, then you can change them to whatever you want.

Note   Many people like to make their start page the Microsoft Network ™ (MSN) home page, which gives you even more customization options. For more information, see "Customizing Your MSN Home Page" later in this chapter.


Managing your Favorites folder

As your Favorites list grows over time, it can get pretty unruly. Now you can organize and save your favorite pages by type, making it easier and quicker to find the one you're looking for.

You might want to organize your pages by topic. For example, you could create a folder named Art Pages for storing information about art exhibits and reviews, and a folder named Flying for storing information about aviation.


Customizing the MSN home page

The Microsoft Network (MSN) home page (http://www.msn.com/) lets you to get to the Web information you want quickly. You can create a unique MSN start page to provide daily updates for your favorite stocks, sites, cartoons, weather, sports, and news.

The MSN home page offers the opportunity to specify your personal preferences about the way the page is displayed, which services you would like to use, what news and events you would like to see information about, and what search service you would like to use-all automatically!

To select the information you want, click Customize Start Page on the MSN home page, and then follow the directions on your screen.


Using ratings to limit Internet access

If you're concerned about the types of information that your children or employees can gain access to on the Internet, Internet Explorer has the answer.

Using ratings systems developed by the nonprofit Recreational Software Advisory Council (RSAC) and other organizations, Internet Explorer gives you control over what other people can see from your computer.

Use ratings to choose different levels of allowable language, nudity, sex, and violence. Parents or supervisors can set passwords to allow access to any Web page or block users from being able to access Web pages that aren't rated.


To set up ratings for your computer

If you choose to use ratings, you can still use a password to view unrated pages.


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