Controlling the display of toolbar components
Resizing toolbar components
Rearranging toolbar components
Changing options for displaying a page
Changing the media displayed on a page
Changing the font size used to display text on a page
Changing the fonts used to display text on a page
Changing the cache options
Configuring your computer for Internet access by using a proxy server

To control the display of toolbar components

1. From the Edit menu, choose Preferences.
2. Click the Browser Display tab.
3. Click the toolbar components (Button, Favorites, and Address bars) you want to be displayed.
4. If you want to see an animated icon that indicates when the browser is downloading a page, click Show Icon Animation and choose the animation you want to see from the pop-up.

Tip

• These settings affect all pages you view. If you want to show or hide the Button, Address, Favorite, or Status bars for a particular window only, use the View menu.
• To change which buttons appear on the toolbar, make sure Show Button Bar is selected, and then choose a toolbar configuration from the pop-up menu.

To resize toolbar components

1. Move the mouse pointer to the cross-hatched pattern on the bar you want to resize. Note that the mouse pointer turns into a hand.
2. Drag the bar.

• You cannot drag the left-most bars to resize them. You must resize the adjacent bar.
• When you reduce the size of a bar, some buttons are hidden.

To rearrange toolbar components

1. Move the mouse pointer to the cross-hatched pattern on the bar you wish to move. Note that the mouse pointer turns into a hand.
2. Drag the bar to its new location on the tool bar. A blue highlighting box indicates the size and placement of the bar in its new location.

• You can only move the toolbar components (the Favorites, Button, and Address Bars) within the toolbar.

To change options for displaying a page

1. From the Edit menu, choose Preferences.
2. Click the Browser Display tab.
3. Change settings as needed.

Related Topic
Changing the media displayed on a page
Controlling the display of toolbar components

To change the media displayed on a page

1. From the Edit menu, choose Preferences.
2. Click the Web Content tab.
3. In the Multimedia area, choose the options you want.

Tips

• To see the colors that the author of the page specified, make sure Allow Page To Specify Colors is selected.
• To see background images and hear background sounds, make sure that both Show Pictures and Play Sounds are selected.

To change the font size used to display text on a page

1. From the View menu, point to Text Size.
2. Choose the font size you want.

To change the default font size for all pages

1. On the Edit menu, choose Preferences.
2. Click the Browser Display tab.
3. Choose a default font size from the pull-down menu.

Tips

• Some pages will use their own font sizes instead of the size you specify.
• You can also change your font size by clicking the Larger and Smaller buttons on the Button Bar.

Related Topic
Changing the fonts used to display text on a page

To change the fonts used to display text on a page

1. From the Edit menu, choose Preferences.
2. Click the Font tab.
3. Choose a character set from the Font Encoding pull-down menu. The language kit for the specified character set must be installed.
4. On the Proportional Font and Fixed-Width Font pull-down menus, choose the fonts you want.

Tips

• If you want to change the character set for the page your are currently viewing only, on the View menu, point to Font Encoding, and then choose the character set you want.
• Some pages will use their own fonts instead of the ones you specify. You can prevent this by deselecting Allow Page To Specify Fonts on the Web Content tab in the Preferences dialog box.
• Some Internet sites send different pages depending on what language your browser is set to. If you are accessing one of these sites, set the Language pull-down menu to the language you would like to see.

Related Topic
Changing the font size used to display text on a page

To change the cache options

1. From the Edit menu, choose Preferences.
2. Click the Advanced tab.
3. Click Change to define a new name and location for the Cache folder.
4. To create more space to store pages, increase the value in the Maximum Size box.
5. Select how often you would like your browser to reload a Web page.

Tips

• The disk cache is the space on your hard disk that stores pages as you view them. When you click a hyperlink, a page is downloaded from the Internet (or local hard disk) to your Cache folder.
• Choose Once Per Session if the sites you visit change often. Choosing this option can slow down browsing between viewed pages (pages stored in the Cache folder) because Internet Explorer checks to see if a page has changed when you return to it.
• Choose Never if the sites you visit do not change often. Choosing this option can speed up browsing because viewed pages (pages stored in the Cache folder) are not updated. If you want to view possible updates when this option is selected, on the View menu, choose Refresh.
• If you want to start with a fresh cache list, click Empty.

Related Topics
Seeing where you've been
Browsing viewed pages faster

To configure your computer for Internet access by using a proxy server

1. Obtain your proxy server address and server type (normal or tunnel) from your network administrator.
2. On the Edit menu, choose Preferences.
3. Click the Proxy tab.
4. Click the Enabled button.
5. Choose the protocol from the menu.
6. From the Method menu, choose the type of proxy server.
7. Specify the proxy server address and port supplied by your system administrator.
8. In the text box, type the sites you want to connect to directly, by passing the proxy server.
9. Click OK.

• Proxy servers are typically used in corporate computing environments where the local network is isolated from the Internet by a firewall. If you are in this situation you will need to obtain your proxy server configuration from your network administrator. If you are directly connected to the Internet through an Internet services provider (ISP) then it is likely that you will not need to choose a proxy server.