Browsing the Web


After a connection to the Internet is established, you can open a Web browser, such as Internet Explorer, and begin to view Web pages. When a Web browser opens, it immediately loads the default Web page. You can change which Web page is the default using the Internet Options dialog box, shown later in this chapter.

CROSS-REF 

There are several different Web browsers that you can use to surf the Internet. The different browsers are presented in Chapter 32.

Each Web page has a unique address that appears in the Address field at the top of the browser, as shown in Figure 46.13. If you enter a new address in the Address field and press Enter, the new Web page loads. Web addresses are technically called Universal Resource Locators or URLs.

image from book
Figure 46.13: When a Web browser first opens, its default Web page automatically loads.

Another way to get to new Web pages is to click on links within the current Web page. These links may be images or colored text. When you position your cursor over a link, a new URL for the target Web page appears at the bottom of the browser window.

When you select a link or type in the URL for a new Web page, the new page loads automatically. The speed with which the new page loads depends on the complexity of the page's content and the speed of your connection. The progress of the loading page appears along the bottom of the browser.

After a new Web page loads and appears in the browser, you can quickly navigate back and forth between the recently opened pages using the Back and Forward buttons located at the top of the browser.

If you're waiting for a Web page that is taking too long, you can click Stop on the main toolbar to have the browser stop requesting content from the page. Next to the Stop button is the Refresh button. This button causes the content on the current page to be completely reloaded. If the entire page isn't completely downloaded due to line interference or if the page has new information such as an updated weather report that you want to view, you can click on the Refresh button. Clicking the Home button causes the default home page to load.

Searching the Web

With millions of Web pages on the Internet, it can be difficult to find the exact information that you are looking for. Throughout the Web are several pages devoted to searching the Web. These search engines, such as Google in Figure 46.14, offer different ways to search the Internet from categorized lists to thumbnails of Web pages. Some of the more popular sites for searching the Web include:

  • http://www.Google.com

  • http://www.Excite.com

  • http://www.Yahoo.com

  • http://www.Altavista.com

  • http://www.Ask.com

image from book
Figure 46.14: Sites like http://www.Google.com let you search the Web for specific information.

Most search engines index Web pages based on the keywords found throughout the site, but Web pages also contain information contained within the page that isn't visible in the Web browser that describes the page's contents. Search engines can access this non-visible information to catalogue Web sites that don't have good keywords such as a page that includes nothing but pictures.

When entering keywords into a search engine, it is important to select and use keywords that are representative of the type of pages you are looking for. Most search engines ignore pronouns and simple adjectives like it, the, each, and for, so limit your keywords to descriptive nouns like movies, astronomy, and botany. If you include multiple keywords, then the search engine returns Web pages that include both of those key words, such as comedy movies, radio astronomy, and molecular botany.

Note 

Some search engines such as http://www.Ask.com use entire sentences, complete with pronouns, in question form to locate Web pages such as "How do I fix a leaking faucet?"

If you include a set of keywords within a set of quotes, then the search engine returns Web pages that exactly match the words within quotes such as "all-time popular comedy movies," "NASA radio astronomy reports," and "molecular botany morphology."

There is also a Search button at the top of Internet Explorer. If you click this button, a Search sidebar opens to the left of the browser window; this sidebar is powered by MSN Search. If you type a keyword in the Search field, a list of Web pages that include that word or phrase appears. Figure 46.15 shows the results when I searched for the word Matisse. Clicking any of these Web page thumbnails takes you to the selected Web page.

image from book
Figure 46.15: The Search sidebar within Internet Explorer lets you search for Web pages that contain the words you entered.

Saving Favorites

As you visit different Web pages, you may find one that you'd like to revisit at a future time. Sites such as this can be added to your Favorites list. The pages in this list can then be recalled using the Favorites menu.

Clicking the Favorites button at the top of the browser opens all your favorite links in a panel to the left of the window, as shown in Figure 46.16. From this list, you simply click an item from the list to revisit the selected page.

image from book
Figure 46.16: You can recall a list of favorite sites by clicking the Favorites button at the top of the browser.

You can add the current Web site to the Favorites list by clicking Add at the top of the Favorites side panel, or by selecting the Favorites image from book Add to Favorites menu. Either command opens the Add Favorite dialog box, shown in Figure 46.17. Using this dialog box, you can name the current Web page or add it to a specific folder. You can also use this dialog box to create a new folder.

image from book
Figure 46.17: The Add Favorite dialog box lets you add the current Web site to your Favorites list.

If you accidentally add a favorite Web site to the wrong folder, you can use the Favorites image from book Organize Favorites menu option to open the Organize Favorites dialog box, shown in Figure 46.18, where you can rename links, create new folders, and move links between folders. This dialog box also lets you drag and drop links into folders.

image from book
Figure 46.18: The Organize Favorites dialog box lets you rename links and move links between folders.

Viewing History

Another way to locate Web pages you've already visited is with the History sidebar, shown in Figure 46.19. You can open this by clicking on History at the top of the browser. The History sidebar displays a list of all the Web sites that you've visited in the last several days.

image from book
Figure 46.19: The History sidebar keeps track of the Web sites that you've visited over the last several days.

Configuring Internet Explorer

Behind the scenes of the Web browser are several settings that control the look and feel of the browser as well as its security. All of these settings are in the Internet Options dialog box, shown in Figure 46.20. You can open this dialog box by selecting the Tools image from book Internet Options menu or by double-clicking the Internet Options selection from the Control Panel.

image from book
Figure 46.20: The Internet Options dialog box lets you configure the settings for Internet Explorer.

Changing the default Web page

At the top of the General tab of the Internet Options dialog box is an Address field that contains a Web address. This designated page is the default Web page that appears when the Web browser is first opened.

To change the default Web page, follow these steps:

  1. Open Internet Explorer and choose the Tools image from book Internet Options menu command.

  2. Type a new Web page address at the top of the dialog box that opens. Close the dialog box by clicking OK.

  3. Click on Home at the top the Web browser. The designated Web page opens.

Tip 

An easy way to set your default Web page is to navigate to a Web page and click on the Use Current button in the Internet options window.

Managing cached files

Every time you visit a Web page, the contents of the page download from the server where the content is hosted. At the same time, the content of the Web page also saves to a temporary folder on the hard drive. This saved content is called a cache, and by saving a cached copy, the browser can immediately recall any requested content instead of downloading the content again. This is why Web pages appear so quickly when you use the Back button.

If you look at a lot of different Web pages, over time the folder that holds the cached content fills up. You can delete all the cached files at any time using the Delete Files button in the General panel of the Internet Options dialog box.

Note 

If you notice that Web pages aren't coming up as fast as they did before, then it could be that Internet Explorer is spending too much time searching the cache for content that is already download. Clearing the cache could help speed up Web browsing.

There is also a button for deleting cookies. A cookie is a file that keeps track of the type of content that you are viewing on a Web site. For example, if you visit an online shopping Web site, the site may save a cookie to your hard drive that remembers the type of items that you viewed while visiting the site. The Web site can then reuse this information to present customized Web pages of the type of items you may be interested in.

CROSS-REF 

You can also delete all cached Web page files using the Disk Cleanup utility. More on this utility can be found in Chapter 49.

The General tab of the Internet Options dialog box also includes a Settings button for setting the options for the cache folder. This button opens the Settings dialog box shown in Figure 46.21. The top options let you choose if the browser checks for newer versions of a cached Web page. If you select to have the browser look for newer versions every time you visit the page, the browser takes a bit longer to load the Web page; if you choose the Never option, the cached Web page appears almost immediately but may include older content.

image from book
Figure 46.21: The Settings dialog box lets you change the size of the cache folder.

Note 

If you notice that Web pages don't seem to ever be updated, such as displaying old dates, then check to see if the Never option is enabled.

The Settings dialog box also lets you specify the size of the cache folder. Larger cache folders can hold more content for immediate recall, but the downloaded content consumes space that could be used for other programs and data. Once the downloaded content fills the available cached space, the newer content overwrites the older content.

The size of your cache really depends on the type of content you regularly view. If you view standard Web pages without any video or audio, then a maximum setting of 50MB should be more than enough. However, if you spend a lot of time viewing videos and listening to online audio programs, then a setting of 250MB is more than enough. If Internet Explorer sets your cache to be 5 percent of your hard drive and you have a large hard drive, you may end up with a cache size of 5GB or more. This is way too big and should be reduced.

The Move Folder button opens a file dialog box where you can specify a new location for the cached folder. The View Files button opens all the cached folders within a Windows Explorer window. The View Objects button opens a folder that includes all the downloaded programs used by the browser.

Managing history

The History section in the General tab of the Internet Options dialog box lets you set the number of days of history to retain. Larger histories let you backtrack to sites visited over the last designated number of days. There is also a Clear History button that clears the history of all the Web pages that have been visited.

Changing the browser's colors and fonts

If you click Colors in the General tab of the Internet Options dialog box, the Colors dialog box, shown in Figure 46.22, opens. Using this, you can change the color of text, background, and links in the browser. By changing the text and background colors, you can increase the contrast of the browser text to make it easier to read.

image from book
Figure 46.22: The Colors dialog box lets you change default browser colors for text and links.

Note 

Web page creators can also specify the colors and fonts used on the pages they create. If the Web page creator specifies a specific color or font, changing the default colors in the Colors dialog box has no effect over these pages.

By default all Web page links appear blue, then purple after they have been clicked on; you can also make them appear red when the mouse cursor is over them. You can change these default colors to something else using the Colors dialog box.

The Fonts button in the General tab of the Internet Options dialog box, shown in Figure 46.23, lets you change the font used for the text in the Web page.

image from book
Figure 46.23: The Fonts dialog box lets you change the default browser text font.

Changing the browser's text size

If the text displayed within a Web browser is too small, you can increase the text size using the View image from book Text Size menu. The options include Largest, Larger, Medium, Smaller, and Smallest. Figure 46.24 shows the browser with the Largest text size setting. Although the Text Size menu changes the text on a Web page, it has no affect on the pictures or any text that is saved as a picture.

image from book
Figure 46.24: The View image from book Text Size menu option can change the size of the Web page's text.

CROSS-REF 

Windows also includes several tools that can make Windows more accessible for people with disabilities. You can learn more about these tools in Chapter 30.

Changing the browser's language

If you stumble across a Web page that has a random mess of characters, it could be that the page is trying to display the text in another language. You can change the language used to display the browser's text using the Language button in the General tab of the Internet Options dialog box.

The Languages button opens the Language Preference dialog box, shown in Figure 46.25. To add another language to the list of available languages, click the Add button and select the desired language from the list. The order in which the languages are listed determines the priority of the language used to display the Web page.

image from book
Figure 46.25: The Language Preference dialog box lets you add more languages to the list of languages that the Web page can use.

Controlling security settings

The Security tab of the Internet Options dialog box, shown in Figure 46.26, lets you set the security level to use when browsing the whole Internet or when browsing the Local Intranet. You can also specify a list of Trusted and Restricted Sites. By changing the various security levels, you can control which potentially dangerous programs and scripts can be run within the browser.

image from book
Figure 46.26: The Security tab of the Internet Options dialog box lets you set security settings for your browser.

For each of the icons appearing at the top of the Security panel, you can use the slider at the lower half of the tab once a level is selected to change the security level. The options include the following:

  • High: This security level is the most secure, but it disables all potentially harmful programs.

  • Medium: This security level prompts for most potentially harmful programs before downloading them.

  • Medium-low: This security level runs most downloaded programs except for unsigned ActiveX controls without prompting.

  • Low: This security level runs all downloaded programs, including ActiveX controls, without prompting the user.

Caution 

For the Internet option, you shouldn't set the Internet Zone security level lower than Medium or potentially harmful programs could cause damage to your system.

For the selected icon, the Custom Level button sets the specific security options. The Custom Level button opens the Security Settings dialog box, shown in Figure 46.27, where you select to Disable, Enable, or Prompt for specific types of downloadable objects such as ActiveX controls and scripts. At the bottom of the Security Settings dialog box, you can choose to Reset the settings to a High, Medium, Medium-low, or Low security level.

image from book
Figure 46.27: The Security Settings dialog box lets you enable or disable specific security settings.

For the Trusted and Restricted Sites categories, you can choose which specific sites to add to these categories using the Sites button. This opens a list of sites that are Trusted or Restricted. You can use the Add button to add new sites to the list. If you visit a Web site that has been added to the restricted list, the page still loads, but all potentially harmful programs and scripts are prevented from running.

Controlling privacy settings

Another aspect of security is privacy, which deals with keeping your identity secure. If other users get access to your username and password, they can access the sites you visit as if they were you.

When you visit a Web site that includes a username and password, the site saves a text-based file that includes your personal information, called a cookie, to your hard drive. This cookie is retrieved when you revisit the Web site and logs you in without requiring you to enter your username and password every time you revisit the site. Cookies are also used to track your browsing and shopping habits to customize the content that you may be interested in viewing. Although cookies can be helpful, they also represent a potential risk if other users get access to them.

If you open the Privacy tab in the Internet Options dialog box, shown in Figure 46.28, you can set the Privacy setting for all the pages that you visit on the Internet. The privacy levels include the following:

  • Block All Cookies: This privacy level is the safest, disallowing all cookies from being saved to your hard drive. This can cause problems with some Web sites.

  • High: This privacy level blocks all cookies without a privacy policy and that contain login information. A privacy policy is a written statement issued by the Web site that explains how they will keep your personal information safe.

  • Medium-High: This privacy level is similar to the High level, except it allows cookies for the sites that you specify.

  • Medium: This privacy level prompts for most cookies before saving them.

  • Low: This privacy level lets most cookies save to your hard drive.

  • Accept All Cookies: This privacy level lets all cookies be saved and read from Web sites.

image from book
Figure 46.28: The Privacy tab of the Internet Options dialog box lets you set how the browser handles cookies.

Caution 

Although cookies may seem like a security risk that you'd want to disable, be aware that many Web sites that you probably visit rely on cookies. If you disable all cookies, you may also disable any online banking you may have set up.

For all privacy levels, you can select to block or allow cookies to save to the hard drive for the specified sites by clicking the Sites button. The Import button lets you import custom cookies to your hard drive.

At the bottom of the Privacy tab of the Internet Options dialog box is an option to Block pop-ups. Pop-ups are those annoying advertising windows that appear at random when you visit certain sites. Using the Settings button in the Pop-up Blocker section, you can select to enable pop-up windows for designated sites.

Blocking inappropriate content

Internet Explorer includes filters that block inappropriate content. These filters only work to block content that has been rated by the Web page creators, so they may miss some content that is incorrectly rated.

You can access the content filters from the Content tab of the Internet Options dialog box, shown in Figure 46.29. This tab also includes options for accepting security certifications and enabling AutoComplete for login usernames and passwords to specific sites.

image from book
Figure 46.29: The Content tab of the Internet Options dialog box lets you set content filters for blocking inappropriate content.

You can find the content filters in the Content Advisor dialog box, shown in Figure 46.30, which is opened by clicking Enable. In the Ratings tab, you can use the slider to set the appropriate level for Language, Nudity, Sex, and Violence.

image from book
Figure 46.30: The Content Advisor dialog box lets you set the filter level for inappropriate content in a number of categories.

The Approved Sites tab includes a list of sites that you can view regardless of their ratings. You can also use this panel to create a list of sites that can never be viewed. The General tab of the Content Advisor dialog box, shown in Figure 46.31, includes an option that allows sites with no rating to be viewed. It also includes an option to enter a Supervisor Password so children can't change the filter settings.

image from book
Figure 46.31: The General tab of the Content Advisor dialog box lets you set a supervisor password for the content filters.

Changing your login information

When the Connection Wizard is used, you can enter your username and password; if the username and password don't exactly match the information on the server, you cannot connect to the Internet. Also, as a security measure, several ISPs require that you change your username and password frequently.

To change your login username and password, follow these steps:

  1. Open Internet Explorer. Choose the Tools image from book Internet Options menu command.

  2. In the dialog box that opens, click Connections. The Connections dialog box, shown in Figure 46.32, opens.

    image from book
    Figure 46.32: The Connections tab of the Internet Options dialog box shows you the various ISP connections.

  3. Select the ISP connection for the account that you want to change. Click Settings. This opens a dialog box with settings for the current connection selection, as shown in Figure 46.33.

    image from book
    Figure 46.33: The ISP Settings dialog box for the selected connection lets you change the username and password.

  4. Change the User Name and Password for the selected connection. Click OK to close the Settings dialog box.

Setting browser programs

Internet Explorer can work as the hub to several other programs that can edit Web pages and access e-mail and newsgroups.

You can specify which programs are connected to Internet Explorer by default using the Programs tab of the Internet Options dialog box, shown in Figure 46.34.

image from book
Figure 46.34: The Programs tab of the Internet Options dialog box lets you select which programs get opened when their button is clicked in Internet Explorer.




PC User's Bible
PC Users Bible
ISBN: 0470088974
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2007
Pages: 372

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