Mastering the Internet
Now that you've spent some time on the basics, it's worth reading a little further to learn how to manage memory, protect your privacy, download files, and take advantage of exciting Internet technology.
Contents
Internet Explorer automatically saves a copy of each Web page you view, placing a copy of the graphics, text, and multimedia elements in a cache on your computer. Represented by a folder named Temporary Internet Files, the cache is actually a part of your hard disk, so it's to your advantage to manage its size. Internet Explorer uses a cache so you can:
n View Web pages you've previously visited, without connecting to the Internet.
Tip Automatically saving Web pages is different from downloading a document or program, though they also use space on your hard disk. For more information, see "Downloading Internet Files" later in this chapter.
To view previously viewed Web pages offline
2 Click an HTML page icon in the Temporary Internet Files list.
When you ask to see a particular Web page, Internet Explorer first checks whether there's a copy of the page in the cache. If there is, Internet Explorer then checks to see how often you want to check for updated information. If it's time to check for new information, Internet Explorer checks the Web site. If nothing has changed since the last time you viewed the page, Internet Explorer displays the page from the cache. All this happens several times faster than downloading a new page from the Web.
Reducing the frequency of these checks causes Internet Explorer to display previously viewed pages faster, from the cache, but you risk missing recent updates. For more information, see "Refreshing a Page" in Chapter 2, "Exploring the Web with Internet Explorer."
You can enlarge the cache to save even more pages, or reduce it to free up space on your hard disk for other programs.
See Also For more information about the cache, look up "cache, adjusting" in the Internet Explorer Help Index.
To change the cache settings
2 Click the Advanced tab.
3 Under Temporary Internet files, click Settings.
4 Move the slider to increase or decrease the percentage of disk space to use for Internet files.
Internet Explorer is one of the safest ways to browse the Web. With its built-in set of Internet security technologies, you can communicate privately, download software you can trust, and verify your identity to others on the Web. With secure communications guaranteed, you can send e-mail, buy consumer goods, reserve airplane tickets, or even conduct personal banking on the Internet.
Internet Explorer 3.0 also supports the following security technologies:
Secure communications enable you to safely transfer information, such as e-mail, or conduct financial transactions without being overheard through Internet Explorer's support for secure communications channels.
Personal certificates are digital identifications that let you uniquely identify yourself to Web sites and gain access to information on the Web. The "wallet" technology of Internet Explorer lets you store and manage these certificates, in much the same way that a real wallet stores your identification cards. For more information, see "Other Internet Extras" in Chapter 4, "Internet Extras," or the Internet Extras page on the Internet Explorer Starter Kit compact disc.
To obtain a personal certificate, you need to apply for and receive your certificate from a certificate authority, such as VeriSign. More information and a hyperlink to this site are provided on the Internet Extras page on the Internet Explorer Starter Kit compact disc.
Site certificates are like your personal certificate, but for Web sites. They enable you to verify a Web site's identity before you send them any information, such as your credit card number.
Security warnings Enable you to choose what kinds of security warnings you want to receive while browsing the Web. For example, if you subscribe to an online magazine, the Web server might download information (called cookies) to your computer so that you could be identified the next time you go to that site. You can choose whether to be warned before a cookie is stored on your computer, which enables you to decide whether or not to accept it.
Another warning lets you know if you're about to send information across an unsecure Internet connection.
Internet Explorer is already set to high security levels, but you can change this by choosing how often you want to be warned about possible security breaches.
To change warning levels
2 Click the Advanced tab.
3 Under Warnings, select:
The second check box if you want to be warned when you switch between a site that is secure and one that is not.
The third check box if you want to be warned when it appears that site security is questionable.
The fourth check box if you want to be warned when the computer you've connected to tries to send information (cookies) to your computer.
Sooner or later, you'll be tempted to take advantage of some of the hundreds of offers of free or nearly free software available on the Internet. Or you might come across a hyperlink to another file, such as a Microsoft Word document, that you can download instead of opening. When that time comes, you'll need to know how to handle the downloads.
If Internet Explorer fails to recognize a particular file type, or if the file is an actual program, you'll see a warning before the file is downloaded to your computer.
To download a file or program
2 In the Internet Explorer dialog box:
Click Save It To Disk to save the file or program without opening it. By saving a file to your computer, you can work with it later.
Note Computer viruses are fairly rare on the Internet, but they can damage your computer or files. If you are concerned about a particular download, you should click Save It To Disk and then run the file through a virus scanning program before opening it. If you don't already have one, virus scanning programs are available on the Internet.
Experiencing Multimedia with ActiveMovie
Internet Explorer offers you the opportunity to watch movies and listen to music with Microsoft ActiveMovie. ActiveMovie plays video and audio right in Internet Explorer, enabling you to view and hear the most popular content on the Web without having to download separate "helper" applications. You can view the most popular video file formats on the Web today (such as Video for Windows, MPEG, and QuickTime), and hear the most popular audio file formats, including WAV, MIDI, AU, and AIFF audio files.
ActiveMovie also provides support for progressive playback, simultaneously downloading and playing many video and audio files without waiting for the entire file to be downloaded.
It's all possible once you install ActiveMovie from the Internet Explorer Starter Kit compact disc.
Listening to audio
Web authors often use different kinds of sounds, such as sound effects and music, to add excitement and convey information that cannot be presented in any other way:
n Sounds can play when you click a hyperlink on a Web page.
n Unless you've changed the setting, Internet Explorer is already set up to play sounds.
To check Internet Explorer sound settings
2 On the General tab, under Multimedia, make sure the Play Sounds check box is selected.
To play a background sound
See Also For more information about playing sounds, look up "sounds" in the Internet Explorer Help index.
To play a WAV, MIDI, AU, or AIFF sound
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1. Sound length 2. Elapsed time 3. Pause button 4. Stop button 5. Sliding play indicator |
Playing videos
Web authors sometimes use video, and even film clips, to turn their sites into a movie theater. They can include video in several ways:
n Videos can play when you click a hyperlink on a Web page. You can tell what type of video format a file uses by looking at its suffix. For example: Hello.mpg is a video file that uses the MPEG video format.
To check Internet Explorer video settings
2 On the General tab, under Multimedia, make sure the Play Videos check box is selected.
To play a video
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1. Video screen 2. Video length 3. Pause button 4. Stop button 5. Sliding play indicator 6. Elapsed time |
In addition to support for popular multimedia audio and video files, Internet Explorer supports other multimedia capabilities, such as animation and 3-D virtual worlds through the use of ActiveX Controls, an innovative set of programs that add interest and interactivity to the Web. For more information, see Chapter 4, "Internet Extras," or the Internet Extras page on the Internet Explorer Starter Kit compact disc.