Customizing Internet Explorer


In addition to customizing email settings, you have a variety of options for customizing Internet Explorer. As one common example, you can change your home page. You can also organize your list of favorite sites by breaking it into folders of related sites, rather than one long list. This section covers these common changes.

Setting Your Home Page

You are not stuck with the home page set up by your Internet provider or by Microsoft (MSN). You can use any page as your home page. For instance, you may prefer to use a search site so that you start with tools for finding information. If you have your own Web site, you might want to make it your home page. You can select any site for your home page by following these steps:

1.

Start Internet Explorer.

note

You'll find options for controlling security and privacy settings in the Internet Options dialog box. You can find key information about these features in Chapter 8, "Browsing the Internet."

2.

Click Tools and select Internet Options. You'll see the Internet Options dialog box (see Figure 15.9).

Figure 15.9. You can customize your home page as well as make other changes from this dialog box.


3.

Do any of the following:

Type the address for the page you want as your home page in the Address text box.

To use the current page as your home page, click Use Current.

To use the default home page, click Use Default.

4.

Click OK. Now when you start Internet Explorer, the home page you selected is displayed. Also, when you click the Home button, this is the page that is displayed.

tip

You can also set the number of pages to keep in the history folder. You can increase or decrease the number of days in the spin box. To clear the history, click the Clear History button.


Organizing Your Favorites List

In Chapter 8, "Browsing the Internet," you learned how to add sites to your Favorites list. If you add several sites, the list can become too long and unwieldy. To make it easier to find a site when using this list, you can organize your Favorites list into folders.

Start by clicking Favorites (the menu command, not the button) and then clicking the Organize Favorites command. You'll see the Organize Favorites dialog box (see Figure 15.10).

Figure 15.10. You can organize your list of favorite sites using this dialog box.


From the Organize Favorites dialog box, you can do any of the following:

  • To create a new folder, click the Create Folder button and then type the folder name.

  • To move sites to a folder, select the site in the list and click Move to Folder. Then select the folder from the list and click OK. You can also drag the site in the list to the folder.

  • To rename a site or folder, select it in the list and click Rename. Then type a new name and press Enter.

  • To delete a site or folder, select it and click Delete. Click Yes to confirm the deletion.

caution

When you delete a folder, you delete the folder and all its contents. Make sure that this is what you want to do before clicking Yes to confirm the deletion.


The Absolute Minimum

This chapter covers the many ways you can customize both email and Internet access to suit your preferences. In particular, keep these main points in mind:

  • You can control how messages are sent, received, and handled using the Outlook Express mail options.

  • To make addressing email messages easier, use the Address Book. Also, if you frequently send email messages to a set of people, create a contact group.

  • You can select a different page for your home page using the Internet Options dialog box.

  • To keep your Favorites list organized, create folders and then organize sites by category.




    Absolute Beginner's Guide to Microsoft Windows XP
    Absolute Beginners Guide to Windows XP (2nd Edition)
    ISBN: 078973432X
    EAN: 2147483647
    Year: 2005
    Pages: 176
    Authors: Shelley OHara

    flylib.com © 2008-2017.
    If you may any questions please contact us: flylib@qtcs.net