Insider Power Techniques for Microsoft Windows XP (Bpg-Other)

Understanding Internet Explorer’s Advanced Options

Internet Explorer has a huge list of customization features found on the Advanced tab of the Internet Options dialog box (see Figure 15-3). Many of these settings are obscure, but there are lots that are extremely useful for surfers of all stripes. This section runs through all of these settings.

Figure 15-3: In the Internet Options dialog box, the Advanced tab contains a long list of Internet Explorer customization settings.

The Accessibility branch has two options:

• Always Expand ALT Text For Images Most Webmasters provide a text description for each image they include on a page. If you configure Internet Explorer not to show images (see the discussion of the Show Pictures check box on page 353), all you see are boxes where the images should be, and each box contains the text description (which is known as alt text, where alt is short for alternate). Selecting this check box directs Internet Explorer to expand the image box horizontally so that the alt text appears on a single line, which makes it easier to read.

• Move System Caret With Focus/Selection Changes Selecting this check box configures Internet Explorer to move the system caret whenever you change the focus. (The system caret is a visual indication of what part of the screen currently has the focus. If a text box has the focus, the system caret is a blinking, vertical bar; if a check box or option button has the focus, the system caret is a dotted outline of the control name.) This is useful if you have a screen reader or screen magnifier that uses the position of the system caret to determine what part of the screen should be read or magnified.

Here are the options in the Browsing branch:

• Always Send URLs As UTF-8 (Requires Restart) When selected, this check box indicates to Internet Explorer to send Web page addresses using the UTF-8 (Universal character set Transformation Format 8) standard, which is readable in any language. If you’re having trouble accessing a page that uses non-English characters in the URL, the server may not be able to handle UTF-8, so clear this check box. You need to restart Internet Explorer if you change this setting.

• Automatically Check For Internet Explorer Updates When selected, this option flags Internet Explorer to check (approximately every 30 days) to see whether a newer version of the program is available. This is a useful and easy method for keeping up with the latest Internet Explorer updates and security patches.

• Close Unused Folders In History And Favorites (Requires Restart) When this check box is selected, Internet Explorer keeps unused folders closed when you display the History bar and the Favorites bar. That is, if you open a folder and then open a second folder, Internet Explorer automatically closes the first folder. This makes the History and Favorites lists easier to navigate, so it’s usually best to leave this option selected. You need to restart Internet Explorer if you change this setting.

• Disable Script Debugging This check box toggles the script debugger (if one is installed) on and off. You should need to select this option only if you’re a page designer and you have scripts in your pages that you need to debug before uploading them to the Web.

• Display A Notification About Every Script Error If you select this check box, Internet Explorer displays a dialog box to alert you to JavaScript or VBScript errors on a page. If you leave this option cleared, Internet Explorer displays an error message in the status bar. To see the full error message, double-click the status bar message. Again, only script programmers will want to enable this option, and only when they’re debugging scripts. Many Web sites are poorly programmed and contain script errors, so enabling this option means you’ll have to deal with lots of annoying dialog boxes as you surf.

• Enable Folder View For FTP Sites When this option is selected and you access a File Transfer Protocol (FTP) site, Internet Explorer displays the contents of the site using the familiar Windows folder view. This makes it easy to drag-and-drop files from the FTP site to your hard disk (and possibly perform other file maintenance chores, depending on what permissions you have at the site).

• Enable Install On Demand (Internet Explorer) When this check box is selected, Internet Explorer examines each Web page for elements that require a specific browser feature. If that feature isn’t installed, and that feature comes with setup instructions in a cabinet information file, Internet Explorer asks if you want to install the feature. If you find that a page doesn’t appear to work properly, a missing component could be the problem, so try enabling this option.

  Note

  For a list of the features supported by Install On Demand, see the following Web page: http://msdn.microsoft.com/workshop/author/behaviors/reference/methods/installable.asp

• Enable Install On Demand (Other) This is similar to the Enable Install On Demand (Internet Explorer) option, except that selecting this check box flags Internet Explorer to prompt you to install features that come with their own installation program. Only the Windows Virtual Machine (Java support, which is not installed by default in Windows XP) can be installed this way.

• Enable Offline Items To Be Synchronized On A Schedule This check box toggles the synchronization updates on and off. Clearing this check box is a good idea if you’re going out of town for a few days and don’t want offline pages updated while you’re away.

• Enable Page Transitions This check box toggles Internet Explorer’s support for page transitions on and off. Web sites that use a server that supports FrontPage extensions can define various page transitions (such as wipes and fades). However, these transitions often slow down your browsing, so we recommend turning them off.

• Enable Personalized Favorites Menu When this check box is selected, Windows XP’s “personalized” menu feature gets applied to Internet Explorer’s Favorites menu. This means that Internet Explorer hides favorites that you haven’t visited in a while. To see the hidden favorites, click the downward-pointing arrow at the bottom of the menu. Personalized menus reduce the command clutter that can confuse novice users, but they just slow down experienced users. We recommend leaving this option turned off.

• Enable Third-Party Browser Extensions (Requires Restart) When this check box is selected, Internet Explorer supports third- party extensions to its interface. For example, the Google Toolbar is a third-party extension that integrates the Google search engine into Internet Explorer as a toolbar. If you clear this check box, these third-party extensions don’t appear and can’t be displayed. Clearing this check box is a good way to turn off those annoying third-party toolbars that install themselves without permission. You need to restart Internet Explorer if you change this setting.

• Enable Visual Styles On Buttons And Controls In Web Pages When this check box is selected, Internet Explorer applies the current Windows XP visual style to all Web pages for objects such as form buttons. If you clear this check box, Internet Explorer applies its default visual style to all page elements.

• Force Offscreen Compositing Even Under Terminal Server (Requires Restart) If you select this check box, Internet Explorer performs all compositing—the combining of two or more images—in memory before displaying the result on the screen. This avoids the image flashing that can occur when running Internet Explorer under Terminal Services, but it can reduce performance significantly. We recommend keeping this option cleared. You need to restart Internet Explorer if you change this setting.

• Notify When Downloads Complete If you leave this check box selected, Internet Explorer leaves its download progress dialog box on the screen after the download is complete (see Figure 15-4). This enables you to click Open to launch the downloaded file or to click Open Folder to display the file’s destination folder. If you clear this check box, Internet Explorer closes this dialog box as soon as the download is over.

  Figure 15-4: : When Internet Explorer completes a file download, it leaves this dialog box on the screen to help you deal with the file.

  Tip

  You can also force Internet Explorer to close the Download Complete dialog box automatically by selecting the Close This Dialog Box When Download Completes check box in the download progress dialog box.

• Reuse Windows For Launching Shortcuts When this check box is selected, Windows looks for an already-open Internet Explorer window when you click a Web page shortcut (such as a Web address in an Outlook Express e-mail message). If such a window is open, the Web page is loaded into that window. This is a good idea because it prevents Internet Explorer windows from multiplying unnecessarily. If you clear this option, Windows always loads the page into a new Internet Explorer window.

• Show Friendly HTTP Error Messages When this check box is selected, Internet Explorer intercepts the error messages (for, say, pages not found) generated by Web servers and replaces them with its own messages that offer more information as well as possible solutions to the problem. If you clear this option, Internet Explorer simply displays the error message generated by the Web server. However, we recommend clearing this option because the Web server error messages are often customized to be more helpful than the generic messages reported by Internet Explorer.

• Show Friendly URLs This check box determines how URLs appear in the status bar when you hover the mouse over a link or image map. Select this check box to see only the file name of the linked page; clear this check box to see the full URL of the linked page. We prefer to see the full URL so that we know exactly where a link will take us (particularly if the link will take us to a different site).

• Show Go Button In Address Bar When this check box is selected, Internet Explorer adds a Go button to the right of the Address bar. You click this button to open whatever URL is shown in the Address bar. The usefulness of this button is dubious (it’s usually easiest just to press Enter after entering an address), but it doesn’t hurt anything.

• Underline Links Use these options to specify when Internet Explorer should format Web page links with an underline. The Hover option means that the underline appears only when you position the mouse pointer over the link. Many Web sites use colored text, so it’s often difficult to recognize a link without the underlining. Therefore, we recommend that you select the Always option.

• Use Inline AutoComplete This check box toggles the Address bar’s “inline” AutoComplete feature on and off. When inline AutoComplete is on, Internet Explorer monitors the text that you type in the Address bar. If your text matches a previously typed URL, Internet Explorer automatically completes the address by displaying the matching URL in the Address bar. It also displays a drop-down list of other matching URLs. When inline AutoComplete is off, Internet Explorer only displays the drop-down list of matching URLs.

  Note

  If you want to prevent Internet Explorer from displaying the drop-down list of matching URLs, select Tools, Internet Options and then click the Content tab’s AutoComplete button to display the AutoComplete Settings dialog box. Clear the Web Addresses check box. Note, too, that Internet Explorer’s AutoComplete feature also applies to Web forms. That is, AutoComplete can also remember data that you’ve typed into a form—including user names and passwords—and then enter that data automatically when you use the form again. You can control this Web form portion of AutoComplete by using the other check boxes in the Use AutoComplete For section of the AutoComplete Settings dialog box.

• Use Passive FTP (For Firewall And DSL Modem Compatibility) In a normal FTP session, Internet Explorer opens a connection to the FTP server (for commands) and then the FTP server opens a second connection back to the browser (for the data). If you’re on a network with a firewall, however, incoming connections from a server aren’t allowed. With passive FTP, the browser establishes the second (data) connection itself. So if you’re on a firewalled network (or are using a DSL modem) and you can’t establish an FTP connection, select this check box.

• Use Smooth Scrolling This check box toggles a feature called smooth scrolling on and off. When you select this check box to enable smooth scrolling, pressing Page Down or Page Up causes the page to scroll down or up at a preset speed. If you clear this check box, pressing Page Down or Page Up causes the page to instantly jump down or up.

  Insider Secret

  When reading a Web page, you can scroll down one screenful by pressing Spacebar. To scroll up one screenful, press Shift+Spacebar.

The check boxes in the HTTP 1.1 Settings branch determine whether Internet Explorer uses the HTTP 1.1 protocol:

• Use HTTP 1.1 This check box toggles Internet Explorer’s use of HTTP 1.1 to communicate with Web servers. (HTTP 1.1 is the standard protocol used on the Web today.) You should clear this check box only if you’re having trouble connecting to a Web site. This signals Internet Explorer to use HTTP 1.0, which may solve the problem.

• Use HTTP 1.1 Through Proxy Connections This check box toggles on and off the use of HTTP 1.1 only when connecting through a proxy server.

The check boxes in the Microsoft VM branch are related to Internet Explorer’s Java Virtual Machine:

• Java Console Enabled (Requires Restart) This check box toggles the Java console on and off. The Java console is a separate window in which the output and error messages from a Java applet are displayed. If you select this option (which requires that you restart Internet Explorer), you can view the Java console by selecting the View, Java Console command. You should need to use the Java Console only if you’re debugging a Java application.

• Java Logging Enabled This check box toggles Internet Explorer’s Java logging on and off. When it’s on, Internet Explorer logs Java applet error messages to a file named Javalog.txt in the %SystemRoot% \Java folder. This is useful for troubleshooting Java problems.

• JIT Compiler For Virtual Machine Enabled (Requires Restart) This check box toggles Internet Explorer’s internal “just-in-time” Java compiler on and off. This compiler is used to compile and run Java applets using native Windows code. In many cases, this causes the Java applet to run much faster than the regularly compiled code. However, it may break some applets, or cause them to run slower than normal. You need to restart Internet Explorer if you change this setting.

The options in the Multimedia branch toggle various multimedia effects on and off:

• Don’t Display Online Media Content In The Media Bar If you select this check box, Internet Explorer doesn’t display online media content (such as streaming audio or video) in the Media toolbar. Instead, it plays the content in the application associated with the media file type (such as Windows Media Player). Using the dedicated media application usually gives you more options for playing the media, so we recommend selecting this option.

• Enable Automatic Image Resizing If you select this check box, Internet Explorer automatically shrinks large images so that they fit inside the browser window. This is useful if you’re running Windows XP with a small monitor or a relatively low resolution, and you’re finding that many Web site images don’t fit entirely into the browser window.

  Tip

  If Enable Automatic Image Resizing is selected, you can restore an image to its normal size by first hovering the mouse point over the image. After a couple of seconds, Internet Explorer displays the Automatic Image Resizing icon in the lower right corner of the image (see Figure 15-5). Click that icon to expand the image to its normal size. Figure 15-5: : When you hover the mouse pointer over an image, Internet Explorer can display the Image toolbar in the upper left corner of the image and the Automatic Image Resizing icon in the lower right corner.

• Enable Image Toolbar (Requires Restart) When this check box is selected and you hover the mouse pointer over an image, Internet Explorer displays a toolbar in the upper left corner of the image, as shown in Figure 15-5. You can use this toolbar to save or print the image, send the image via e-mail, or open the My Pictures folder.

• Play Animations In Web Pages This check box toggles animated GIF images on and off. Most animated GIFs are unwelcome annoyances, so you’ll probably greatly improve your surfing experience by clearing this check box. If you turn this option off and you want to view an animation, right-click the animation icon in the image and then select Show Picture.

• Play Sounds In Web Pages This check box toggles Web page sound effects on and off. Since the vast majority of Web page sounds are extremely bad MIDI renditions of popular tunes, turning off sounds will save your ears.

• Play Videos In Web Pages This check box toggles Internet Explorer’s support for inline AVI files on and off. If you turn this setting off, the only way to view a video is to turn the option back on and then refresh the page.

• Show Image Download Placeholders If you select this check box, Internet Explorer displays a box that is the same size and shape as the image it is downloading.

• Show Pictures This check box toggles Web page images on and off. If you’re using a slow connection, turn off this option and Internet Explorer will show only a box where the image would normally appear. (If the designer has included alt text, that text will appear inside the box.) If you want to view a picture, right-click the box and then select Show Picture.

• Smart Image Dithering This check box toggles image dithering on and off. Dithering is a technique that slightly alters an image in order to make jagged edges appear smooth.

In the Printing branch, the Print Background Colors And Images check box determines whether Internet Explorer includes the page’s background when you print the page. Many Web pages use solid colors or fancy images as backgrounds, so you’ll print these pages more quickly if you leave this setting cleared.

The options in the Search From The Address Bar branch control Internet Explorer’s Address bar searching:

• Display Results, And Go To The Most Likely Site Select this option to display the search engine’s results in the Search bar and to display the best match in the main browser window.

• Do Not Search From The Address Bar Select this option to disable Address bar searching.

• Just Display The Results In The Main Window Select this option to display in the main browser window a list of the sites that the search engine found.

• Just Go To The Most Likely Site Select this option to display the search engine’s best match in the main browser window.

The Security branch has many options related to Internet Explorer security. We discuss these options in Chapter 14, “Implementing Internet Security and Privacy.”