Special Edition Using Microsoft Windows XP Professional (3rd Edition)

Web browsers have become so ubiquitous that we'll assume here that you are already comfortable with the basics of Web browsing. And because many Windows XP elements such as Windows Explorer, the Control Panel, and My Network Places use the background code of IE6, you are probably already familiar with the location of common toolbar buttons, menus, and other screen elements.

Still, IE6 does have some new features, so an overview of how to use some of them is provided here. This overview will be especially useful if you are switching from an even earlier version of Internet Explorer or another Web browser such as Netscape Navigator.

You must have a connection to the Internet configured on your computer before you can connect to the Web. p. 291.

You can begin browsing the Internet by launching Internet Explorer from the Start Menu.

If you connect to the Internet via a dial-up connection, you may be prompted to connect. When the connection is established, Internet Explorer probably opens, by default, to the MSN (The Microsoft Network) home page, as shown in Figure 9.1. Some PC manufacturerssuch as Compaqcustomize IE before delivery so that you see their home page instead.

Figure 9.1. Internet Explorer opens with MSN, the default home page, displayed.

To change the home page so that you see a personal favorite when IE opens, p. 337.

Did a Web page freeze your browser? See "Internet Explorer Crashes on Certain Web Pages" in the "Troubleshooting" section at the end of the chapter.

As you probably know, Web pages change frequently, so the page you see will almost certainly look different from Figure 9.1. The general layout of the IE6 window might also be somewhat different from what is shown here, although if you have performed a standard installation of Windows XP and have not done any customizations, it should look like this.

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Want even more space to view Web pages? Press F11 to change the view to get rid of some screen elements and make more room for Web documents. If you don't like what you see, press F11 again to toggle back.

Consider creating buttons for the Web pages you visit most frequently on the Links bar. To see the Links bar more fully, you must first unlock the toolbars, by going to View, Toolbars, and unchecking Lock the Toolbars. Then, click and drag the Links bar to a more visible position on the screen. It should look something like Figure 9.2. Before you customize the Links bar, keep these tips in mind:

  • The Customize Links button merely takes you to a Microsoft-hosted Web page that provides instructions on how to do what is already described here. Consider removing that button to make room for your own favorites.

  • You can remove unwanted Links buttons by right-clicking them and choosing Delete from the menu that appears.

  • Make space for more Links by right-clicking an existing Links button and choosing Rename from the menu that appears. Type in a shorter name or abbreviation and click OK.

  • To save more room, reduce the length of your Address bar and move it to share a "line" with another toolbar. (The main toolbar, on the top line, is a good place for the address bar.) Experiment with the placement of all the toolbars so that you have as much space as possible to view Web pages.

  • The easiest way to add a Web page to the Links bar is to drag the icon for the page from the Address bar and drop it onto the Links bar. Figure 9.2 demonstrates this technique.

Figure 9.2. The Links bar is a handy place to store your most frequently visited Web sites.

As you probably know, you can navigate around the Internet by typing Web addresses into the Address bar or by clicking hyperlinks on a page. The mouse pointer changes from an arrow into a hand whenever it is over a link. Among the most useful features of the IE6 interface are the Back and Forward buttons. When you click the Back button, you return to the previously visited page. Clicking Forward moves you ahead once again. (To move around even faster, Alt + back arrow and Alt + forward arrow have the same function, and if you have a new mouse, it may have special Back and Forward buttons on it.)

Are you frustrated because Internet Explorer tells you that a site you visit often is unavailable? See "What Happened to the Web Site?" in the "Troubleshooting" section at the end of this chapter.

Notice that next to both the Back and Forward buttons are downward-pointing arrows. If you have been browsing through several Web pages, click the down arrow next to the Back button. A menu similar to that shown in Figure 9.3 should appear showing a backward progression of the Web pages you have visited. Click a listing to move back several pages simultaneously rather than one at a time.

Figure 9.3. To move several Web pages instead of to the previous one, click the down arrow next to the Back button.

Entering URLs

Every Web document you view in IE6 is identified by a unique address called a Uniform Resource Locator (URL). When you visit a Web page, for example, the URL for that page appears in the Address bar of Internet Explorer. URLs for links usually also appear in the status bar when you hover the mouse pointer over a hyperlink, although more and more Web site designers are setting up scripts so that an advertisement or other message appears in the status bar instead.

URLs are broken down into three main components. To illustrate, consider these URLs:

http://www.quepublishing.com/

http://www.irs.treas.gov/formspubs/index.html

http://www.zen-satsang.org/

http://store.yahoo.com/brainsville/index.html

Each of the listed addresses conforms to this scheme:

protocol://domain/path

The protocol for all World Wide Web documents is http, short for Hypertext Transfer Protocol. The protocol is followed by a colon, two forward slashes and the domain name. The domain oftenbut not alwaysstarts with www. Following the domain is the path to a specific document file. You may notice that the first URL listed here does not actually show a path; this is usually okay because Internet Explorer automatically looks for a file called default.htm, index.htm, home.html, or something along those lines in the root directory of the domain.

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If you get an error message when trying to visit a URL, remove the path from the address and try again. Although the exact link may have changed, it's quite possible that the main page for the site still exists and that you will be able to find the information you seek there.

When you type a URL into the IE Address bar, a built-in feature automatically reviews your browsing history and presents a number of possible matches. A list appears directly under the Address bar and shrinks as you type more characters, narrowing the search. If you see a desired URL appear in the list, click it to go directly to that page. This feature, called AutoComplete, can save keystrokes, but it can also be incriminating if others use your computer and user profile. I mean, do you really want your boss or a coworker to know you visited howtomakebandanasfrombananas.com? AutoComplete works with Web form data as well, which means that others could see your user IDs, passwords, and other sensitive data for various sites.

If you are concerned about others viewing your data, disable AutoComplete by doing the following:

1.

Choose Tools, Internet Options.

2.

Click the Content tab to bring it to the front, and then click AutoComplete.

3.

Remove check marks next to the items you do not want affected by AutoComplete.

4.

You can further safeguard existing information by clicking either of the two Clear buttons in the AutoComplete Settings dialog box. Click OK when you are finished.

5.

To prevent existing Web URLs from being compromised, select the General tab in the Internet Options dialog box, and click Clear History. Click OK to finish.

NOTE

If no one else has access to your Windows XP user profile or you really don't care who sees where you've been browsing, AutoComplete doesn't present a security problem. In this case, you should be able to safely leave the feature enabled.

Browsing Offline

If you have a permanent Internet connection that is never interrupted or shut off, consider yourself fortunate. A permanent connectionsuch as what you might have through your company's networkallows you a great deal of flexibility in terms of what and when you download from the World Wide Web.

Alas, not all users have this sort of flexibility in their daily computing, so IE offers you the ability to download Web pages into a cache for offline viewing. This feature can be useful in a variety of situations. For example, you can set up IE to download specific Web sites in the background every time you go online. You can also download Web sites onto your portable computer so that you can view them laterwhile you're on the plane, for example.

NOTE

Internet Explorer works just fine whether or not an Internet connection is available. However, if no connection is available, it can view only files stored on the local computer or other available network resources. The IE6 status bar displays this icon when you are working offline.

The process of downloading a Web site for offline browsing is fairly simple. Your first step, obviously, is to browse to the Web site you want to make available offline. For best results, open the main or index page of the Web site first. Now try the following:

1.

Choose Favorites, Add to Favorites.

2.

In the Add Favorite dialog box, place a check mark next to Make Available Offline, as shown in Figure 9.4. You can also change the name so that you will be able to easily identify the page. The name entered here is what will be shown in your Favorites list.

Figure 9.4. In this dialog box, you can select this Web page for offline viewing and choose how this Web page will appear offline.

3.

To set up offline browsing options, click Customize to start the Offline Favorite Wizard. Click Next in the introductory dialog box to open the window shown in Figure 9.5. Depending on the layout of the site, this screen could contain the most important options that you will set.

Figure 9.5. Here, you can choose how many link levels you want to make available offline.

4.

Usually, you will want to choose Yes when asked whether you want to download pages that are linked to the one you are making available offline. For example, if the main page is a list of news stories, the next level of links probably contains the actual stories. Viewing a list of headlines won't do you much good without also being able to read the stories!

5.

If you chose Yes in the preceding step, select the number of levels you want to download. The exact number will depend on the layout of the site.

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If you aren't sure how many levels to download, cancel this process, and browse the Web site to get a feel for it. Too many levels could result in a lot of unwanted content, and too few will leave you frustrated, trying to click links that are unavailable.

6.

Click Next after you have chosen how many link levels you want to download. In the next window, you must choose between downloading the pages manually or automatically. If you will browse offline only occasionallysay, on a laptopchoose the first option, Only when I Choose Synchronize from the Tools Menu, and skip to step 8. Otherwise, select the second option, I Would Like to Create a New Schedule, and click Next to create a schedule for downloads.

7.

Select a schedule to synchronize the download process. You may want to set a schedule that will download the pages when the computer is least likely to be in use. You can also choose to have the computer automatically connect to the Internet for you if the computer is not connected at synchronization time.

8.

Click Next when you are finished setting your schedule. If the Web site requires a username and password, you must enter it in the last window of the wizard. Click Finish. If the Add Favorite dialog box is still open, click OK to close it.

Viewing Pages Offline

Now that you've set up a schedule and have downloaded some pages for offline viewing, you are ready to actually read them offline. To do so:

1.

Open Internet Explorer.

2.

If you are prompted to establish an Internet connection, click the Cancel button. Internet Explorer may load a copy of your home page from cache, so it could appear as if you are online even though you are not. On the other hand, IE may open with a message that says "The page cannot be displayed." If so, go to File and click Work Offline.

3.

To view a synchronized offline page you have set up and downloaded, click Favorites and choose the page's listing from the Favorites menu. You can view the page and click links that have been downloaded.

4.

Notice that if you move the mouse pointer over a link that has not been downloaded, this "not available" symbol will appear.

If you click a link that has not been downloaded, you will be asked whether you want to connect or remain in offline mode. If you do not or cannot connect, you cannot open the link.

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