Don’t Use AOL’s Included Browser!
Have you ever been on a website using AOL and the browser crashes? (Or better yet, have you ever been on a site and not had it crash?)
What happens? That’s right.. The whole AOL program crashes. As for whatever you were doing, kiss it good-bye.
Another bad thing about the AOL browser is the way it limits the amount of space you have to… Continue reading
Q:
I keep hearing about how informational sites will probably be charging for their content soon. Are the days of the “free” internet over?
A:
I’ve seen several questions like that lately (must be an article going around or something), so I’ll try to explain what’s going on and why.
First off, most information sites are supported by advertising revenue. They draw traffic due to their (hopefully) excellent… Continue reading
Big Buttons
Do you ever accidentally click the Maximize button on a program window when you meant to hit Close? Or Close when you wanted to Maximize? Or Maximize when you wanted to Minimize? Or… OK, I guess you get the idea.
If the buttons are bigger, it helps to eliminate this problem. Trust me, ever since I made my buttons bigger, I have lots less digital… Continue reading
Here’s a quick little trick for Internet Explorer’s scroll bar.
Most of us usually use our mouse scroll wheel or grab the scroll bar when we go to scroll down the length of a web page, right?
Another way is to right-click the scrollbar. A little menu will pop up that’s chock-full of scrolling options!
Give it… Continue reading
Are Your Web Images Too Big?
(Internet Explorer 6 or better)
You know the drill. You land on a web page with this gigantic picture. You really want to see the whole thing, but alas, it seems the only way is to use your scroll bars. Sure, you could buy a bigger monitor, better video card, then crank up your resolution, but there’s just gotta be a cheaper way… Continue reading
Carlos from Columbus asks:
How do I save pictures from a web page?
To save a picture from a web page to your computer, just right-click the image and select “Save Image As…” from the little menu that pops
Better Browsing
Have you ever been at a site and saw a link you wanted to follow? You almost click the link, but then decide that you want to finish looking through the web page you’re currently on. What should you do?
Next time you’re faced with the question above, right-click the link you want to follow and select Open in New Window from the resulting menu (you can… Continue reading
Ever have a window that has wandered partially off-screen? Not a big problem, unless you can’t get to the title bar to move it. For example, what do you do if you have a window that gets its title bar hidden above the TOP of the screen? (It happens, sometimes due to a system error, sometimes due a change in screen resolution.) The problem is
Q:
What is a browser?
A:
A browser is what you use to surf the web.
There are all sorts of them out there. The most common is Microsoft Internet Explorer, but you also have Mozilla Firefox, Opera, Safari, Google Chrome and others. In addition, your Internet Service may have a built in browser, like America Online.… Continue reading
Q:
I just got a new computer and I’m having a problem with my Favorites. Seems like if I don’t visit a site often enough, they disappear from the menu! Why is this?.
A:
Newer versions of Internet Explorer use a Favorites menu that “remembers” the sites you visit the most. So, when you click your Favorites menu, you may only see 5 or 6 of your favorite sites… Continue reading
Shifty Little Tabs
Most people know if they hit the Tab key, they can hop from control to control in a program. What most don’t realize is that if they hold the Shift key while they Tab , they can go backwards through the controls.
Now, before you ask… Controls are the “objects” you interact (play) with in a program. Stuff like buttons, checkboxes, text boxes, lists, etc. are all… Continue reading
If you have a mouse with a scroll wheel on it, you can do some cool tricks…
Shift & Spin
Ever wonder what happens when you hold down the Shift key on a web page and spin the wheel on your wheel mouse? Explorer goes either back or forward, depending on which direction you spin.
Give it a try. Open up Explorer and follow a few… Continue reading
Q:
Is there anything I can do about web pages with fonts that are too small to read or so large that they waste browser space?
A:
Yes, there is hope. You can avoid eye strain or the loss of vast amounts of browser real estate. You can increase / decrease the font size of your browser. Here’s How:
Internet Explorer & Outlook Express Users:
Click your View
Add an Online Picture to an Email
Have you ever come across a cool graphic at a website and wanted to include it in an email? One way is to save the graphic to your hard drive and send as an attachment or insert it into the body of an HTML email (as demonstrated above). But that takes up space on your hard drive or in the email. So, is… Continue reading
Have you ever been looking for a page on a particular web site and haven’t been able to find it? You may know the site name ( www.sitename.com) but the actual page name eludes you.
Well, with Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox, you can type in just the name of the site, like www.worldstart (note you don’t really need the “.com” part) then hit your down arrow… Continue reading
Have you ever been surfing the web and had a sudden urge to send an e-mail to someone? Maybe you just stumbled upon a really cool page or some awesome information that you just gotta share.
Whatever the reason, wouldn’t it be cool if you could compose an e-mail without launching Outlook Express, fiddling around in the address book, then finally starting the message?
Well, where there’s a geek, there’s… Continue reading
Q:
How do “secure servers” work? When I give my information, is it really safe?
A:
There are two things that indicate a secure web page:
First, you will notice that the domain changes to “https://”. Second, a little padlock appears in the status bar at the bottom of your browser.
When you log onto a secure server it communicates with your browser for a few seconds… Continue reading
Q:
Have you seen that awful font that many websites are using lately? It’s almost totally unreadable!
A:
Sure there are over a million amateur web page makers for every pro designer, but I think the reason so many web sites seem to be using an ugly font has more to do with your browser than the design skills of the person who made the site.
If your… Continue reading
Use Internet Explorer To Open Files
If you’re like me, you always have a web browser open. Well, if that browser is Internet Explorer, you could be doing more with it than just surfing the web!
Internet Explorer can also open all sorts of files. Just drag and drop a file into your Internet Explorer window and watch it open. I use this all… Continue reading
Stop Homepage Hijacking
We get e-mail from people all the time telling us that their homepage has been changed without their permission (Internet Explorer). Most of the time, a quick trip to the Tools menu, Internet Options will let you reset the page.
However, sometimes it’s an even bigger problem. Some folks find that each time they re-boot their computer, their homepage switches back to the unwanted one and… Continue reading
Q:
What is spyware? How do I know if I have some on my computer? How do I get rid of it?
A:
Spyware is basically a type of program that gathers information about you without your knowledge. This information may be distributed to many sources or just a single source.
Note that if a program alerts you that your personal information may be shared it is not… Continue reading
Stop the Spyware Invasion
Did you know that you can prevent it from getting to begin with?
I’m talking about a free way to do it, at least with Internet Explorer. I tried to find Netscape and Opera methods, but didn’t find any.
Just head over to Tools / Internet Options then click the “Security” tab and the “Custom Level” button.
You’ll see a list of settings, the first of… Continue reading
Internet Information Safety
Giving out your personal information to sites on the net is a touchy subject. My suggestion would be to only give out info to sites that you trust. If you don’t trust a particular site, don’t give out your info. I’m not too worried about giving out my info to most business sites, but I’m not going to give it to someone who just would like to… Continue reading
Fix Split Links
Don’t you just hate it when the web link in an email is split? The first line is clickable, but it goes nowhere. Try the old copy/paste and you still only get the top part.
Some readers suggest making the text smaller or the page bigger to display the whole link. It’s worth a try. But if that doesn’t work, here’s how to handle ‘em:
1. Copy… Continue reading
Note – This tip is for Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher. For those who are still with me, if you have any sites that require a password for access, you’ve probably noticed that IE offers to remember these passwords / usernames for you. Of course, some of you like having your browser remember passwords and usernames for you. All that’s required when you go back to the site is a… Continue reading
Q:
I hate it when my browser auto-completes search engine entries and addresses when I start typing. How do I avoid this?
A:
Well, if you’re using Internet Explorer (5.0 or higher), just go to Tools, Internet Options , then choose the Content tab and select the ” AutoComplete ” button. This will bring up a control panel where you can turn AutoComplete on or off for web… Continue reading
Clear Internet History
Speaking of cache, this is one that takes up a lot of space and can be emptied easily. If this folder is full, you might try to save a picture that says .jpg only to have it try to save as as bitmap. This is a sign that your Internet History cache is full. Keep in mind, though, that frequently visited pages will take longer to download… Continue reading
