Internet Explorer Tips

CHANGING OF THE ADDRESS

If one of your Favorites suffers an address change, don't fret, you can easily change the address. Choose Favorites|Organize Favorites, then locate the address you want to modify. Right-click the address, then choose Properties. When the Properties dialog box opens, click the Internet Shortcut tab. You'll see the current URL in the Target URL text box. Replace the current URL with the new one and click OK to save your changes and close the dialog box.

SECOND THOUGHTS

By default, Internet Mail sends all mail when you click Send and Receive--not when you click the Send button. So, if you want to take back something you said in a message, click the Folders icon, then select the Outbox. There you'll find all your current messages waiting to be sent. Delete the offending message, then click Send and Receive.

If you need to edit the message, double-click its icon and make your changes. Now click the Send button again. To prevent confusion, click the Folders icon again and select the Inbox.

SURE, YOU'RE SURE

If you don't worry about having second thoughts concerning your mail messages, you can tell Internet mail to send your messages immediately--as soon as you click the Send button. To do this choose Mail|Options and click the Send tab. Now select the check box labeled Send Messages Immediately and then click OK. Don't forget, there'll be no second thoughts--when you click Send, the message is sent.

ALL HUNG UP

When you dial up the Internet a lot, it's easy to inadvertently stay connected even when you haven't used the connection for a long period of time. This can happen if the option to disconnect after a long idle period has been deselected.

To correct this, click Start, then choose Settings|Control Panel. Double-click the Internet icon and when the dialog box opens click the Connection tab. Select the Disconnect if idle for check box and select the amount of time that you consider appropriate. Now click OK to close the dialog box. From now on your idle Internet connection will terminate at the end of the time period you selected.

WHAT A SORTED AFFAIR...

If you customize the columns or the Sort By option in Internet Mail, you need to know that all your changes apply not only to the current folder but to all folders of the same type. For example, if you change Sort By to Subject while viewing the Inbox, you'll find that the same sort applies to the Deleted folders. If you change the Sort by for the Outbox folder, you'll also change the Sent Items folder.

Here's how this works. The folders are divided into inbound and outbound. The inbound folders are Inbox, Deleted Items, and user- created folders. The outbound folders are Outbox and Sent Items.

THE EASIER TO SEE YOU WITH

Some people like to make their Windows 95 desktops easier to read by selecting large fonts. If you decide to use a large font, be aware that Microsoft Internet Explorer (and other applications) may not have room to display all the button text.

To change your Windows 95 font size, right-click the desktop and choose Properties. When the dialog box opens, click the Appearance tab, then choose a new desktop scheme.

PUTTING IT TOGETHER

Some servers have a problem with long mail messages. It's for this reason that some of us are forced to break up mail into smaller messages. The problem is that if the message parts aren't received at the same time, they don't get put back together. (It could be worse, as you know if you've seen the movie "The Fly.")

DON'T TOSS YOUR COOKIES

This tip comes from reader Paul Williams. If you decide to delete the contents of your \Windows\Temporary Internet Files folder, you can do so without deleting cookies. First, arrange the icons by type, then click on the first HTM* file, scroll to the end and, holding down the Shift key, click on the last file. Now press Delete. As many readers pointed out, you can also delete temporary files without affecting cookies by simply choosing View|Options, then clicking on the Advanced tab. Go to the area labeled Temporary Internet Files and click Settings. In Settings, click Empty Folder, then click OK.

NO-MUSS, NO-FUSS WALLPAPER

If you run across a graphic that you really like, why not make it your wallpaper? All you have to do is right-click the picture, then choose Set as Wallpaper. If you choose a small picture, you may have to tell your system to tile the wallpaper. To do this, right-click the desktop and choose Properties. When the dialog box appears, click the Background tab, then select the Tile radio button. To save your changes, click OK.

I WOULD NOT HAVE CHOSEN THAT WALLPAPER...

If you elected to use a web picture for wallpaper and now you'd like to go back to your old wallpaper, all you have to do is right-click the desktop, choose Properties, and click the Background tab. Now you can choose new wallpaper (or none). Click OK to save your changes.

If you'd like to save the Internet wallpaper for later use, open Windows Explorer, then open the Windows folder. Locate the file named Internet Explorer Wallpaper.bmp. Rename the file to something descriptive that you'll remember. Make sure you retain the .BMP extension when you rename the file.

MAIL CALL!!

Do you get a lot of e-mail, a whole lot? If so, you may want to keep Internet Mail open and let it check for mail periodically while you surf the net. To set this up, choose Mail|Options and click the Read tab. Select the Check for New Messages check box, then enter the time period you want to use. After you make your selection, click OK. Keep Internet Mail active by simply minimizing it while you surf the net.

FEELING INSECURE?

If you're running Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 or 3.01 for Windows 95 or NT 4.0, you can download a fix for the security breach. If you're running Internet Explorer 2.0, you need to update to Internet Explorer 3.01 before applying the fix. For more details, visit the Internet Explorer security update page at http://www.microsoft.com/ie/security/update.htm.

Resize Your Toolbars

To resize Internet Explorer 3.0's toolbars, drag the bottom edge of the toolbars up or down until the toolbars are the size you want. As you resize a toolbar, you may notice the location of the toolbar changes. To return it to its original location, just return the toolbar to its original size.

Tooling with Toolbars

To add or remove a toolbar in Internet Explorer 3.0, select View/Options, check or uncheck the appro-priate boxes to add or remove it, and then click on OK. The following toolbars and toolbar options are available: Standard Buttons contains the Back, Forward, Stop, Refresh, Home, Search, Favorites, Print and Font buttons; Address Bar displays the Internet address of the current Web page; Links contains links to commonly used Web sites; Text Labels displays the names of the buttons in each toolbar; and Background Bitmap displays background graphics for all toolbars.

You Can Get There From Here

If you can't browse the Web using Internet Explorer after connecting to America Online (AOL), you may be running AOL 3.0 for Windows instead of AOL 3.0 for Windows 95. To check, click on About AOL on AOL's Help menu. AOL 3.0 for Windows uses a 16-bit version of the WINSOCK.DLL file, and the 32-bit Internet Explorer 3.0 doesn't run with it. AOL 3.0 for Windows 95 also uses a 16-bit version of the file, but it installs an AOL adapter in Network Properties that acts as a wrapper for the file and allows 32-bit browsers to work.

Restore Your Ratings

When you run Internet Explorer, you may receive an error message stating that Content Advisor configuration information is missing. When you click on OK, Internet Explorer can no longer access the Internet. This occurs when the ratings system has been enabled and the RATINGS.POL file is missing or damaged. To create a new RATINGS.POL file, close Internet Explorer. If a RATINGS.POL file exists in the C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM folder, rename it to RATINGS.OLD. (Note: You must be able to view hidden files to view the RATINGS.POL file. To do so, click on View/Options from My Computer or Windows Explorer, click on Show All Files and then click on OK.) Next, start Internet Explorer and click on View/Options. Click on the Security tab, and then on the Settings button in the Content Advisor area. Type in the Supervisor password and click on OK. Select the Ratings options that meet your needs and click on OK. When you restart Internet Explorer, the changes take effect.

Bare-Bones Browsing

To improve browsing performance in Internet Explorer 3.0, you can prevent pictures, sounds, videos and other multimedia files from appearing or being played automatically when you access Web pages. To do so, select View/Options and then the General tab. Click on one or more of the following check boxes in the Multimedia area to clear them: Show Pictures, Play Sounds and Play Videos. Next, click on the Security tab and clear the following check boxes: "Allow downloading of active content," "Enable ActiveX controls and plug-ins," "Run ActiveX scripts" and "Enable Java programs." Now click on OK.

MORE MAIL CALL!!

If you select the Check for New Messages check box as we described in the last tip (Mail|Options|Read), Internet Mail will attempt to check for mail at the selected time interval even though you're not connected.

Let's say you're working at your computer but not using the Internet. If you open Internet Mail, it will prompt for a dial to check the mail. Then after the selected time interval elapses, it will again prompt you to connect so it can check for mail. All you have to do is keep Internet Mail open. If you later connect to the Internet, Internet Mail will continue checking for mail at the set time interval.

WINSITE-FUL SOFTWARE

Looking for some cool Windows software? If so, take a look at WinSite. Just go to http://www.winsite.com. You'll find all kinds of Windows-related shareware and freeware. For example, for Windows 95, you can find screen savers, disk utilities, image readers, wallpapers, special browsers for kids, mail utilities, games, and you name it. Whatever you want is likely to be at WinSite.

PUT 'ER THERE!

When you download a file from the Internet and ask for it to be saved to disk, Microsoft Internet Explorer will save the file to the Windows\Desktop folder by default. But you don't have to save files there. To change the folder, simply select a new one from the Save dialog box.

CUT OFF AT THE KNEES

Those of you using Microsoft Internet Explorer in Windows 3.1 might like to know that Internet Mail and News Version 1.0 for Windows 3.1 is limited to messages no longer than 30K. If you exceed 30K the message will be truncated.

FIND AND CUSTOMIZE YOUR TOOLBARS

If you think some of your toolbars are missing, you may be right. If the toolbar doesn't show up at all, choose View|Toolbar to turn it on. This is a toggle and will turn off the toolbar the next time you choose the command. To customize the contents of the toolbar, choose View|Options and click the General tab. You can use the check boxes in the Toolbar area to tell Microsoft Internet Explorer which components to display.

COLOR YOUR WEB

You can change the default Microsoft Internet Explorer display colors by choosing View|Options and clicking the General tab. Now, under Colors, click the background button and select your new color. Next, click the Text button and select that color. To finish, click OK.

You may not notice any difference immediately, since most web sites define their own colors. The site's definition will take precedence over your selections.

I BEFORE E EXCEPT AFTER C

If you use Microsoft Word for Windows, Internet Mail will use the word processor's spelling checker to check your outgoing messages. If you use some other word processor, it might be wise to use the word processor to write your new messages and spell check them before pasting them into an Internet Mail message.

After you generate your message and spell check it, select the text and copy it. Now move to your new mail message and choose Ctrl+V to paste the text into Internet Mail.

GO GOPHER!

The Web isn't all there is to the Internet. Try Gopher, too. Gopher is a text-only service developed by the University of Minnesota. To check it out type into the Address box

MAKING CHANGES OFF-LINE

If you'd like to modify some of your Explorer settings, you don't have to run the program, then choose View|Options. All you have to do is right-click the Internet Explorer icon and choose Properties. Now you can make whatever changes you like and your changes will apply the next time you run Explorer.

BEEN THERE, DONE THAT, CHANGED THE COLOR

When you visit a page, that link changes color to show that you've been to that page. If you'd like to change the color of your links, you can choose View|Options and click the General tab. Under Links, click the colored tab labeled Visited to open the color palette. Select the color you want to use and click OK. Now click Apply, then OK to close the dialog box.

Note: Some Web designers define the link colors in the underlying code. These definitions will always take precedence over the Explorer settings.

HAS YOUR PAGE BEEN SAVED?

There are several ways to save a Web page. If you want to save the source code, choose File|Save As File and when the dialog box opens, click the down arrow at the right of the Save As Type list box to expand the list. Select Plain text (*.TXT) and then choose a destination folder. Assign a name to the file and click OK. If you want to save the page as an HTML file, select HTML in the Save As Type list box.

GETCHER FREE WEB PAGE HERE!

If you'd like to have your own Web page without spending money, go to http://www.tripod.com and check out their offer of a free Web page. You can use their Web-page designer to get you going quickly or design your own page offline, then upload it to the server.

FAVORITES FAST

As you're navigating a Web page, you might decide to add the page to your Favorites folder. Don't bother to go all the way to the menu to choose Favorites|Add to Favorites. Instead, just click the right mouse button and choose Add to Favorites from the resulting menu.

FOR YOUR EYES ONLY

If you're not the only person using your computer and you'd rather keep your mail somewhat private, here's something to try. In Internet Mail, choose File|Folder|Create. This opens a dialog box asking you to provide a name for the new folder. Name it and then click OK.

Now choose Mail|Inbox Assistant and when the dialog box opens click Add. Put your e-mail address in the To text entry box and click the down arrow at the right of the Move to list box to expand it. Select your new folder and click OK.

The default is Deleted items. Don't choose this one or you'll lose all your mail. Before you leave your computer, click Folders and select Inbox for the next user.

JUNK THAT MAIL

In the last tip we showed you how to use Inbox Assistant to route your mail to a personal folder. We cautioned you to be careful not to accidentally choose Deleted items. Did you wonder why that's the default? It's to get rid of junk mail. When you encounter some mail that you never want to see again, open the mail, then select the e-mail address of the sender. Choose Edit|Copy, then close the dialog box. Now choose Mail|Inbox Assistant and then click Add. Next click on the From text box and press Ctrl+V to paste the address. To get rid of all mail from this address, choose Deleted Items and click OK. You may want to temporarily choose your new personal mail folder so you can see what will be deleted without actually deleting it.

MAKING FACES

If you're new to Newsgroups, you may wonder what all those silly sideways symbols mean. We're going to save you some time by listing all the most common symbols (also called 'emoticons') along with their generally accepted meanings.
:-) Smiling
:-D Laughing
:-/ Scowling
:-O Surprise, Shock
>:-( Angry
:-( Unhappy
:-p Sticking out your tongue
;-) Winking

LIFE AMONG THE OPINIONATED

Wonder what all those acronyms in Newsgroups postings mean? So do we sometimes. We don't know what they all mean because new ones seem to appear almost daily. Here is a list of the more common acronyms, the ones that have been around a while.
AFAIK As far as I know
BTW By the way
HTH Hope this helps
IMHO In my humble opinion
IMNSHO In my not so humble opinion
IMO In my opinion
IOW In other words
LOL Laughing out loud
ROTFL Rolling on the floor laughing
YMMV Your mileage may vary
{g} Grin
{BG} Big grin

SOUND OFF!

If you'd like to change the sound that notifies you of new mail, click Start|Settings|Control Panel. When Control Panel opens, double-click Sounds.

Now locate and select New Mail Notification. Click the down arrow by the Name list box to expand the list. Select the new sound from the list, then click OK to close the dialog box.

If you can't find a sound that you like in the list box, click Browse and search for a sound to test. Select your new sound and click OK. When you get back to the Sound dialog box click OK again.

WHEN PRINTING LESS IS MORE

It's easy to print an entire Web page--all you have to do is click the printer icon or choose File|Print. But what if you want to print only a few paragraphs? Here's one way: Open NotePad (Start|Programs|Accessories|Notepad). Use the mouse to select the desired text in the Web page and press Ctrl+C to copy the selected text.

Go to NotePad and press Ctrl+V to paste the selected text into the NotePad document. Now choose File|Print in NotePad to print the text.

If you'd like to save the text for printing at a later time, choose File|Save As, name the file and save it.

TAKE A SHORTCUT TO NOTEPAD

If you like to use NotePad to paste information from Internet Explorer, why not make NotePad more accessible by placing a shortcut to it on the desktop? To do this, open Windows Explorer and select the Windows folder. Now locate the Notepad.EXE icon and use the right mouse button to drag it to the desktop. When you reach the point on the desktop at which you'd like the shortcut to appear, release the mouse button and choose Create Shortcut(s) Here from the menu.

PUT 'ER THERE

When you place a shortcut to NotePad for use with Microsoft Internet Explorer you might like to make sure that all data you save is saved in a particular folder. What you need to do is tell NotePad where to save its files.

To set a default folder for NotePad, right-click on the NotePad shortcut, then choose Properties from the menu. Now click the Shortcut tab, then click in the Start In text box. Type in the folder in which you want your files saved.

For example, if you have a folder named MyInternetFiles, type in c:\MyInternetFiles. Now click OK to close the dialog box and save your selection. From now until you decide to change it, your files will be saved in c:\MyInternetFiles by default.

"BECAUSE I SAID SO, THAT'S WHY"

If your children have access to your computer, you may want to consider using Microsoft Internet Explorer's security options to control access to the Internet. To do this, choose View|Options and click the Security tab. Now click Enable Ratings and enter a password. Next, click Settings and select the levels of language, nudity, sex, and violence that you feel you can allow. After you make your selections, click the General tab. If you disallow unrated sites, you'll find yourself entering a password almost all the time. We recommend that you select the check box labeled Users can see sites which have no rating. To complete the settings, click OK twice to close all the dialog boxes.

Be aware that the protection offered by Microsoft Internet Explorer is not complete and some undesirable unrated sites might slip through. If security is a serious problem for you, you should consider one of the third-party net watcher programs.

DO AS I SAY, NOT AS I DO

If you enable security to keep some users from viewing selected material on the Internet, you may find it a pain to always have to enter a password to search for material. The best way to handle the situation is to disable the security while you work.

To disable security, choose View|Options and click the security tab. Click Disable Ratings and enter your password. Click OK, then OK in the alert dialog box.

Don't forget to re-enable the ratings before you shut down the computer. The settings will remain as you set them, so all you have to do is click Enable Ratings and enter the password.

THE ORIENTATION EXPRESS

Several subscribers have asked if you can make the Page Setup default to Landscape. You can't change the default; all you can do is choose Page Setup from the File menu and select Landscape during each Explorer session. Your selection will remain in effect until you close Explorer. When you again open Explorer, the selection will return to the default Portrait orientation.

SEPARATE WINDOWS, PLEASE

You know that you can open a new window, then navigate to another site in that window. Here's a way to visit a new link and open a new window at the same time. Hold down Shift while you click a link. Microsoft Internet Explorer will open a new window containing the new site.

URL CLARIFICATION

In a recent tip, we reported that you can navigate to a site without typing the entire URL into Internet Explorer's Address box. Subscriber Ralph Arvesen (and others) correctly points out that you can always leave off the http:// part of the address, but you can't always get away with leaving off the www portion.

What happens is that many, but not all, sites will automatically recognize the address and add the www because they've registered both the domains http://www.whatever.com and http://whatever.com. Still other sites will present a page pointing you to the correct site.

So, you can type in microsoft.com or pcworld.com and get to those sites. However, you can't get to all sites this way. If you don't get there on the first try, go back and add the www part of the address.

Content Troubles

Set the ratings contents in internet explorer and forget the password? Here's how you get rid of it: From the Start Menu, click on run and in the command line type regedit and click ok.

• then double click on Local_Machine_
• then double click on Software
• then double click on Microsoft
• then double click on Windows
• then double click on Current Version
• then double click on Policies
• then double click on Ratings

There should be too settings, default and key, delete the key field, exit regedit and reboot you pc. And your back to browsing again...

STAND-ALONE MAIL

If you use Microsoft Internet mail with your Microsoft Internet Explorer installation, you may find it convenient to put the Internet Mail icon on your desktop. Here's how: Right-click Start and choose Open. Double-click the Programs icon, then locate the Internet Mail icon. Use the right mouse button to drag the icon to the desktop. When you release the mouse button a menu will appear. Choose Copy Here. To close the windows you opened, click the Close button in the Programs window, then click the Start Menu window's Close box.

VENI, VIDI, MIDI

Many sites now use MIDI background music. If you run across some that you might like to keep here's how to save it.

After you finish your Internet session, close Microsoft Internet Explorer, then open Windows Explorer. Navigate to Windows\Temporary Internet Files and locate the file you want to keep. Use the mouse to drag the file onto the desktop or into a new folder.

KEEP IT UNDER CONTROL

There's a slight advantage to using the Ctrl keyboard commands to navigate the Web--it's a bit faster than other methods. Here are some Ctrl combinations you should know about.

• Ctrl+A Selects all the text on the current page
• Ctrl+Esc Opens the Windows 95 Start menu
• Ctrl+F Opens the Find dialog box
• Ctrl+N Opens a new browser window
• Ctrl+O Displays the Open dialog box
• Ctrl+P Prints the current Web page

JUST IN CASE

One thing to watch for when surfing the Web is that many servers run Unix and are case-sensitive. This means that `Index' and `index' are not the same. If you get an error message after you manually enter a name in the Address box, check the case.

MAILING THE LINKS

If you'd like to pass a particular link along to a friend, right-click the link and choose Copy Shortcut. Now create your new e- mail message and right-click in it. Choose Paste. The link will appear in its own space and you can add whatever you want to the message text.

WAIT A MINUTE, MR. POSTMAN

Microsoft Internet Mail does its best to make sure your mail gets sent. When you generate a message off-line and click Send to send it, the message goes into the Outbox and will be sent the next time you log on. If you attempt to close Microsoft Internet Mail with unsent mail in the Outbox, you'll be asked if you want to send the mail before you exit. If you're not sure your mail got sent, just select the Sent folder. If the message in question is there, then it was sent.

POST HASTE

If you'd prefer to send your e-mail a message at a time as you generate them, choose Mail|Options and click the Send tab. Now select the check box labeled Send messages immediately and click Apply, then OK.

Now when you click Send, Internet Mail will dial your Internet service provider, send the message, then hang up. This setting may be just for you if you don't send a lot of e-mail. If you do, you'd be better off using the default setting.

SEARCHING FOR JUST THE RIGHT PHRASE

If you're performing a search on a phrase rather than several separate words, use a hyphen between the words. For example, `amateur-radio' will find more specific sites than will `amateur' and `radio.' Whenever you enter several words and get back some seemingly unrelated sites, try using a hyphen to see if that clears out some of the deadwood.

AN ISP-SO FACTO

If you got your custom copy of Microsoft Internet Explorer from an Internet service provider (ISP), chances are that the Setup program took care of everything for you. However, you may not have all the information needed to set up a later version of Explorer.

Don't worry, your ISP can provide this information. Most providers will e-mail you all you need to know about your setup. With the information in hand, you don't have to worry about what to do if you have to reinstall, or whether you can migrate to a newer version of Microsoft Internet Explorer. Send some e- mail to your ISP to inquire about the information, or give them a call and explain what you need.

IAC (I AM CONFUSED)

Do you ever feel like you're unwillingly subjected to a never- ending barrage of acronyms that you don't understand? If so, visit The WorldWideWeb Acronym and Abbreviation Server at http://www.ucc.ie/info/net/acronyms/index.html You, too, can speak geek-speak.

GET DISCONNECTED

You may find that, although Microsoft Internet Explorer invokes your dialer, it may not automatically disconnect from the Internet service provider when you close the program. You may have to open the dialer (you'll find it in the taskbar) and manually disconnect. Right-click on the dialer icon and choose Disconnect.

DO IT DISCONNECTED

You can copy picture files from a Web page in Internet Explorer by right-clicking on the picture and then choosing Save Picture As.

You can copy a picture even when disconnected. So, if you disconnect before copying a picture, it's not too late; just go ahead and copy it. This works because a picture that's on your screen exists on the hard disk--it's already been fetched from the Net.

MAKING A LOCAL WEB PAGE

Here's a technique that many Web surfers like to employ. Although Microsoft Internet Explorer offers the Favorites folder that you can always use to navigate to your favorite sites, many people like to build a local home page to use as the start page.

You can build a page on your hard disk that contains whatever graphics, text, and links you want to include. Name your page something like MyPage.html and save it.

Now open Microsoft Internet Explorer and choose View|Options and click on the Navigation tab. In the Address text box, type the path and name of your page. For example, if you placed MyPage.html in a folder named Stuff, you'd type:
C:\Stuff\MyPage.html
Click on Apply and then click on OK. Now, whenever you start Internet Explorer, it will open with your local page. It will not attempt to connect until you choose a link that isn't on the hard disk.

MORE ON LOCAL PAGES

In our last tip we told you how to make use of a local page from which to open Internet Explorer. (Create a page on your hard drive with your favorite links, then establish that file as your Start Page in View|Options|Navigation.) We need to mention that you don't have to limit yourself to a single page. If you create a main page with a subject menu, you can use the subject links to open other pages that contain links related to that subject.

For example, your main page might consist of a list that includes computer manufacturers. If you click on that link, you could then navigate to a page of computer manufacturer links.

Let's say your main page is named MyPage.html. Your computer page is named Computers.html and both are in the Stuff folder. Your computer page link will then be
C:\Stuff\Computer.html
When you click on this link, you'll navigate to the page of computer links.

MAIL WHERE YOU WANT IT

By default, Microsoft Internet Mail puts the Preview pane at the bottom of the window. When mail appears, the text is displayed in the Preview pane. However, you don't have to accept this default layout--you can set up a different display. For example, if you'd prefer to have the displayed text appear at the right side of the Mail window, choose View|Preview Pane|Split Vertically. If you prefer, you can eliminate the Preview pane entirely and read the mail by double-clicking on the new mail's icon. To do this choose View|Preview Pane|None.

GET TO THE BOTTOM OF IT

Don't you just hate it when you're viewing a lengthy Web page and the links are at the bottom? You don't have to scroll through the entire page to get to the links. All you have to do is press the End key. If you want to quickly get to the top of a page, press Home.

THE PROOF'S IN THE PRINTOUT

One handy way to keep a record of important e-mail messages in Internet Mail is to print them out from the Sent folder. Click on the Sent folder to view the messages you've sent. Now, click the message you want to print. Press Ctrl-P to print it.

LOCATING NEWSGROUPS

In Internet News, you can search for newsgroups using more than one keyword.

Click on Newsgroups and then enter your words, separated by a space. Let's suppose that you'd like to locate newsgroups that concern amateur photography. Enter your search request just like this:
amateur photography

MOBILE SURFING

If you surf from both a desktop computer and a laptop, you can use Briefcases to synchronize your Favorites between the two computers. Before you can do this, however, you must install the Briefcase feature. If you haven't, click on Start|Settings|Control Panel and double-click on Add/Remove Programs. Click on the Windows Setup tab and then select Accessories. Click on Details and then select Briefcase. Click on OK and then click on OK again. You'll probably be prompted to insert the Setup CD into the CD-ROM drive. Now just follow through with all of the dialog boxes until setup is finished. In our next tip, we'll explain how to use the Briefcase.

NOW, TO USE BRIEFCASE

In this last tip, we explained how to set up Windows 95's Briefcase. The Briefcase lets you synchronize the files on your notebook PC with those on your desktop PC. Here's how to get your Favorites in sync: In Microsoft Internet Explorer Choose Favorites|Organize Favorites. Right-click on the background of the file list and, when the menu opens, choose New|Briefcase. Next, copy the briefcase to a floppy disk. Put the floppy into the laptop and drag the briefcase icon to the Favorites folder on your laptop computer.

To use the Briefcase, when you choose Add to Favorites, select the Create In option and then select the Briefcase. Click on OK.

When you get back to your office, place the floppy into the desktop PC and synchronize the Briefcase files.

SETTING THE CACHE

When you navigate to an Internet page, by default Microsoft Internet Explorer checks to see if that page is in your cache. How your installation deals with the cache is up to you.

To set up your cache parameters, choose View|Options and click on the Advanced tab. Now click on Settings. Now you can select the appropriate radio button to tell Explorer to check for newer versions every time you visit a page, to check every time you start Explorer, or to never check.

Never is the fastest option, but your cached pages won't get updated. However, you can click on Refresh to update pages that contain variable information (weather reports, for example).

The slowest option is Every Visit To The Page because the pages always get updated. The default of Every Time You Start Explorer is a good compromise. Make your choice and click on OK. Then click on OK again.

TAKE A TRIP

Do you know where IE has been? For a list of IE's travels over the last 20 days, choose the Open History Folder command from the Go menu. You'll see a list of recently accessed URLs in a standard Windows Explorer window. Just double-click on a URL, and IE will whisk you there.

LEARNING FROM HISTORY

In our last tip, we looked at how to open the History folder for an instant IE travelog. But History can tell you more than where IE's been. Choose View|Details to see the properties of the listed hyperlinks. Aha! Now you can get a link's full Internet address, the date you visited it, and even the date it will disappear from the History folder.

TOO MUCH HISTORY?

If you spend much time surfing the Net, you might find that waiting 20 days for your History links to expire is just too much. To change the storage time, choose the Options command from the View menu. Click the Navigation tab, then set the number of days that you want History to keep your Net meanderings.

PICTURES AREN'T EVERYTHING

While you're waiting for a page with a lot of graphics to load, don't just sit there tapping your fingers. Try scrolling through the page. Usually, you can go ahead and read the text on the page before all the pictures have loaded. Scrolling will slow down the picture loading a bit, but at least you'll have reading material.

READ THE FINE PRINT

Don't let Internet Explorer give you wrinkles. If you have to squint to read the text on a page, it's time to increase the font size. Press Alt-V-N, then press R for Largest or L for Large. If you'd rather reduce your font size, press S for Small or A for Smallest.

IS IT SECURE?

There are a number of secure sites available on the Internet. For example, you can invoke a secure Microsoft site by entering https://microsoft.com into the Address box and then pressing Enter.

How can you tell when you're visiting a secure site? Look for the lock icon at the bottom right side of the Status bar.

If you're going to make a purchase via the Internet, you might feel safer with a secure site. So try the https version of the URL. We located several businesses with secure sites, among them book-seller Amazon at
https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/subst/index2.html/7019-7029053-445091

MORE ON SECURE SITES

In our last tip, we discussed secure Web sites. When you locate a secure site, you can add it to your Favorites folder. The only catch is that Microsoft Internet Explorer will convert the URL to the standard http:// form. To make sure you navigate to the secure site, choose Favorites|Organize Favorites. Locate the URL in question and right-click on its icon. Choose Properties and click the Internet Shortcut tab. Now modify the Target URL by adding an s after the http. Click on OK. When you get back to the Organize Favorites dialog box, click on Close.

MAKE YOUR OWN QUICK LINKS

Microsoft Internet Explorer comes with some predefined Quick Links. If you like, you can redefine the Quick Links to suit your own surfing habits.

If your Quick Links aren't visible, move the mouse pointer over the bottom edge of the toolbar until it turns into a double arrow. Now use the mouse to drag downward and the Quick Links bar will appear.

To add your own URL to a Quick Link, choose View|Options and click on the Navigation tab. Now click the down arrow at the right side of the Page list box to expand the list. Select (for example) Quick Link #1. Give it a name and type in the complete URL. Click on OK.

TO WHOM?

When you click on the New Message button in Microsoft Internet Mail, the window opens with the cursor placed at the To: entry box. To select an address from the Address book, you can choose File|Address Book.

You can also open the Address Book by simply double-clicking on the To: icon.

WHO SENT IT?

To view the complete e-mail address of someone who has sent a News message, double-click on the message to open it. Now go to the author's name in the From field and double-click on it.

To add the name to your Address Book, right-click on the author's name and then choose Add To Address Book. When the dialog box opens, fill it in and click on OK.

COOKIES FOR ALL?

There is a common belief that any site you connect to can read all the cookies on your disk. Although you may consider cookies to be a security threat, only the sites that issued them can read the cookies. Sites that you visit cannot read the cookies from another site--not yet anyway.

PRINTING THE URLs

If you want to print a Web page and would also like a list of all the URLs on the page, choose File|Print. When the Print dialog box opens, select Print Shortcuts in a Table at the End of the Document. Your Web page will print, and, at the end of the page, you'll get a table listing all the URLs embedded in the Web page.

COLORFUL MESSAGES

If you'd like to send messages that contain colored text, you can do it with Internet Mail. The only downside is that only recipients with HTML-enabled mail clients, such as Internet Mail, Netscape, or Eudora, will be able to see your handiwork. Mail clients that cannot read HTML will see a bunch of HTML tags along with your message.

If you're sure the person you're sending a message to is using an HTML-enabled mail client, click on New Message and then choose Format|HTML. A formatting toolbar will open, and you can select a font, font size, and color for all the text you enter.

SEEK AND YE SHALL FIND

You might know that you can search Yahoo by entering go keyword
in the Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 Address box and then pressing Enter. But you may not know that you can also type find keyword
or ? keyword
Take your pick.

URL COPY AND PASTE

Now and then you'll run across a URL you want to try. If you find a URL in a text file, select the URL and press Ctrl-C (in most Windows programs) to copy it. Open Internet Explorer and click in the Address box. Press Ctrl-V to paste in the copied address; then press Enter to navigate to the new address.

QUICK PRINT

Want to quickly print a Web page? Press Ctrl-P to open the Print dialog box and press Enter to start printing.

USING STYLE SHEETS

Many Web page designers use style sheets to specify fonts, font sizes, and margins in their pages. To view one of these pages as the designer intended, you need to tell Microsoft Internet Explorer to use style sheets.

To get Explorer to use style sheets, choose View|Options and click on the Advanced tab. Select the Use Style Sheets check box and click on OK.

DISCONNECTING MAIL

If you use Internet Mail, you can direct it to connect when you click on Send/Receive and then disconnect after the mail is successfully downloaded. To do this, choose Mail|Options and click on the Connection tab. Now select the Disconnect When Finished Sending and Receiving check box and click on OK.

LOCAL PROTOCOL

We've mentioned in the past that you can use Microsoft Internet Explorer to view a file that resides on your hard disk. For example, to look at the root folder of your hard disk, you can type
c:\
into the Address box and then press Enter. When you reach the folder, take another look at the Address box and you'll see
file://c:
because Explorer adds the proper protocol for you.

If you'd like to read a text file directly in Microsoft Internet Explorer, you can type in the path and name of the file. For example, typing
c:\My Documents\MyFile.txt
into the Address box and pressing Enter will open the file for viewing. And of course you can also double-click on the folders and files to open them, which means you can drill down to the file you want to view even if you don't know its exact path name.

IT'S NOT GONE YET

If you think you've lost a message in Microsoft Internet Mail, don't despair. Look through the folders. If the message is in the Deleted Items folder, you can still read it. You can even put the errant message back in your Inbox or another folder by choosing Mail/Move to and selecting from the list of available folders.

DON'T LOSE THE THREAD

If you'd like to have your Internet News postings display with all the threads already expanded, simply choose News|Options and click on the Read tab. Now select the check box labeled Auto expand conversation threads. Click on Apply to apply the effect immediately, and then click on OK to close the dialog box.

REMOTE PRINTING

There you are, sitting on a beach in Aruba connected to the Internet with your laptop computer. You run across a Web page you'd like to print, but you don't have access to a printer.

You can save the Web page by choosing File|Save As. You can also print the page to a file and then print the file when you get back home.

Before you can print out your file, you'll need to have your print settings configured properly. You may want to do this part while you're still at home, because you'll need the Windows 95 CD to complete the printer installation. To set file printing, click on Start|Settings|Printers and then double-click on New Printer. Follow the Wizard, choosing the type of printer you'll be using. When you get to the part that asks which port to use, choose File (creates a file on disk) and click on Next. When it asks if you want to print a test page, tell it No. There's not much point in printing a test file.

To print your Web page as a file, choose File|Print and then choose your new printer. Click on OK in the Print dialog box and then give the file a name. When you get back home, transfer the file to your home computer (or hook up the printer to the laptop) and go to the MS-DOS prompt. At the prompt, type
copy myfile.prn lpt1:
and press Enter. When the file finishes printing, type
exit
and press Enter to exit the MS-DOS window.

GO WITHOUT STOPPING

If you're at a Web page and you want to go to a link on the page, you don't have to wait for the whole page to load before you click on the new link. You don't have to click on Stop or press any key. All you have to do is click on the link.

MINIMAL MAIL

If you don't need most of the buttons in your Microsoft Mail toolbar, you can easily eliminate some of them. Simply right-click on the toolbar and then choose Customize Toolbar from the menu. When the Customize Toolbar dialog box opens, locate an item you'd like to eliminate in the right pane and select it. Now click on Remove to move it to the left pane and out of your toolbar. When you finish, click on Close.

MAXIMUM MAIL

In the last tip, we showed you how to move some of the buttons out of your Microsoft Mail toolbar (right-click on the toolbar, choose Customize Toolbar, select the item to move out of the toolbar, and click on Remove). You can use the same procedure to move new items into the Microsoft Mail toolbar.

Right-click on the toolbar, choose Customize Toolbar, and select a new icon from the left pane of the Customize Toolbar dialog box. Click on Add to move a copy of the button to the right pane where it will appear in the toolbar. Click on Close and you're ready to go with your new button.

OPENING FILES IN MICROSOFT INTERNET EXPLORER

You can choose File|Open to open a file in Microsoft Internet Explorer, but what kind of file can you open? Explorer will open text files (TXT), graphics files (JPEG, GIF), sound files (WAV, AU, AIFF), and movie files (AVI, MPEG, and MOV).

So when you need to look at one of the file types listed here, you don't have to minimize Explorer and look for the correct program. All you have to do is choose File|Open and then click on Browse to locate and open the file.

You can also open a file by pressing Ctrl-O.

GOODBYE TO YOUR HISTORY

As you know, you can choose View|Options, click on the Navigation tab, and click on View History to see where you've been. To clear the entire history, all you have to do is click on Clear History, confirm your choice, and click on OK. You can also delete only portions of the history: Click on View History, and when the History window opens, select and delete the files you no longer need. When you finish, close the History window and click on OK in the Options dialog box.

MICROSOFT INTERNET EXPLORER NOW!

Want to call up Explorer quickly? Assign a shortcut key sequence to it. Right-click on the Start button and then choose Open. Now double-click on the Programs icon. You should see the Explorer shortcut now.

Right-click on the Explorer shortcut icon and choose Properties. Next, click on the Shortcut tab and then click in the Shortcut key text entry box. Type E and click on OK.

Close the Programs box.

Now, all you have to do to run Microsoft Internet Explorer is press Ctrl- Alt-E (it doesn't have to be uppercase).

If you have a Microsoft Natural Keyboard, just hold down the Windows key and press E to open Internet Explorer.

BACK UP THOSE MAIL FILES

When we make backups, we back up our data files, our system files, and then usually forget all about those Internet Mail files. That is, we forget them until they're gone. Then we wish we had them back.

To back up the Mail files, locate the Mail folder. You'll probably find it in the Program Files folder. If you have any problems locating the Mail folder, click on your desktop and press F3 to open Find. Under Look in, type
C:\
In Named, type
Deleted Items.*
and click on Find Now.

After Find locates the Deleted Items file, click on the located file to select it. Now choose File, Open Containing Folder. When the Mail folder opens, select all the files in it and copy them to a blank floppy disk.

This is something you should do frequently to make sure that you don't lose important mail.

DON'T LOSE THE ADDRESS BOOK

When you're backing up your Mail files, don't forget the address book. If you don't know where the address book is located, you can search for the file using Windows' Find File feature. The file will have a .WAB extension.

Once you've located the file, open Windows Explorer and copy the file to a floppy disk. You can usually copy it to the same floppy that you use to back up your Mail directory. It depends on how much mail you have to save and how many addresses you have in the address book.

PRINTING FRAMES

If you're like most of us, you've probably printed the wrong frame in a multiframe site. In the old days (a few months ago), you could just click on Print and get a printout of the entire Web page. In a multiframe site, you have to first click on the frame you want to print and then click on Print.

HOW TO SEND TEXT FILES

There are two ways to add text files to an Internet Mail message: You can insert it, or you can attach it. Which should you do? The answer depends on the file. If the file is very short, it may be easier for the recipient to read an inserted text file.

To insert a file, create your message, choose Insert, Text File, and then select the file you want inserted.

If the file is longer, you may find it easier to attach the file to your message. In this case, choose Insert, Attachment and select the file to attach.

VIEWING WITH EXPLORER

Here's a trick for travelers: If you find yourself working with a computer that doesn't have any kind of picture file viewer installed, see if it has Internet Explorer. If so, you can use Explorer to view .JPG, .GIF, .AVI, MPEG, and .MOV files. Just choose File, Open and locate the file you want to view. You can also listen to .WAV, .AU, and AIFF sound files with Internet Explorer.

FRAME NAVIGATION

When viewing multiframe Web sites, you can move between frames by clicking in the frame that you want to make active. You can also move to a new frame by pressing Ctrl-Tab.

MOVING YOUR TEMPORARY FOLDER

If you'd like to have your temporary folder more readily available to you for inspection, you can place it in your Start menu, or you can put the temporary files into a different folder.

To place the Temporary folder in the Start menu, run Windows Explorer and locate the Windows folder. Expand Windows and locate the Temporary Internet Files folder. Use the mouse to drag the folder's icon to the Start button. When the icon is over the Start button, release the mouse button. Your Temporary folder is now easily accessible from the Start menu.

If you'd prefer to have the temporary Internet files stored in a different folder, first pick (or create) a folder. Now run Microsoft Internet Explorer and choose View, Options and click on the Advanced tab. Now click on Settings and then click on Move Folder. Choose the new folder and click on OK. When you get back to Options, click on OK to close the dialog box. You'll have to restart the computer for your new folder choice to take effect.

FORWARD AND BACKWARD

An easy way to navigate between Web pages is to press Alt-Left Arrow to move to the previous page and Alt-Right Arrow to move to the next page (assuming there is a next page in your History folder).

MARKING MAIL

You can trick Mail into thinking all of your messages are read. Press Ctrl-A to select all the messages and then press Ctrl-Enter to mark all the messages as read.

The opposite works too--if you want to mark as unread all your messages, press Ctrl-A to select them and then press Ctrl-Shift-Enter.

If they're all junk, you can also press Ctrl-A and then press Delete-- and not worry about them again.

UNSCRAMBLING NEWS

If you get a News posting that appears to be scrambled, choose Edit, Unscramble (ROT13). Many people post with this scrambling method. We're not sure why, since it's so easy to unscramble.

MAIL AND NEWS OR JUST MAIL

If you decide to put shortcuts for Mail and News on your desktop, you have two choices: You can put Mail and News on the desktop separately, or you can place just the Mail shortcut on the desktop. If you decide to use just the one icon, all you have to do to read news is choose File, Read News in the Internet Mail menu.

To place shortcuts on the desktop, right-click on Start and choose Open. When the Start menu opens, double-click on Programs. You'll now see the Mail and News icons. Use the right mouse button to copy one or both of them to the desktop. Right-click on the icon, select Copy from the menu, then right-click on the desktop and choose Paste Shortcut. Now you can close Programs and then Start Menu by clicking on their Close boxes.

NO-HANDS DIAL-UP

If you'd like to click on the Microsoft Internet Explorer icon and have the dialing take place with no intervention from you, double- click on My Computer and then double-click on Dial-Up Networking to open it. Now choose Connections, Settings and then select the radio button labeled Don't Prompt to Use Dial-Up Networking. Now click on OK. The next time you run Internet Explorer, it will dial the ISP

ADDING A NEWS SERVER

Want to add a new news server to Internet News? Open News and choose News, Options. Now click on the Server tab and then click on Add. Enter the new server name and click on Connect. Set up all the necessary info here (this depends on your setup and the server name), and then click on OK. Back at Options, click on OK again to close the dialog box and store your changes.

VIEWING ANIMATED .GIFS

If you right-click and choose Save Picture As to save an animated .GIF to your hard disk, you can use Microsoft Internet Explorer to view the file. Just choose File, Open and select the file.

However, if you open the file with some other graphics program and then save the file, you'll probably find that your animation will no longer animate. What's happened is that you've saved it as a different file type. The rule, then, is: look, but don't save.

ADDING A NEWS SERVER

Want to add a new news server to Internet News? Open News and choose News, Options. Now click on the Server tab and then click on Add. Enter the new server name and click on Connect. Set up all the necessary info here (this depends on your setup and the server name), and then click on OK. Back at Options, click on OK again to close the dialog box and store your changes.

CLEARING THE ADDRESS BAR

A number of readers have asked about how to clear the Address bar of no-longer-needed addresses. The good news is that you can clear the Address bar. The bad news is that you will also clear your History folder. The problem is that the Address bar provides those addresses by getting them from the History folder.

To clear the bar, choose View, Options and click on the Navigation tab. Now click on Clear History, confirm your choice by clicking on Yes when prompted, and click on OK. When you get back to your Web page, you'll find that the Address bar is empty. Of course, so is your History folder.

MORE ON ATTACHING FILES

In a recent tip, we discussed different ways to attach files to an e- mail message. You can also open Windows Explorer and use the left mouse button to drag a file (or a group of files) to the Internet Mail message.

If you haven't started composing a message, you can right-click on a file (or group of files) and choose Send To, Mail Recipient. This creates a new message with the file(s) attached. Internet Mail doesn't have to be open for this to work.

EXPLORER 3.0 AND EXPLORER 4.0?

Many Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 users have asked if they can run IE 3 and IE 4 on the same computer. The answer is maybe. It depends on how your computer is set up.

You can't run IE 3 and IE 4 on the same disk partition because IE 4 will overwrite portions of IE 3, making IE 3 unusable. But you can easily run both if you're using a dual-boot computer. For example, if you run Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0 on separate disk partitions, you can install IE3 on one and IE4 on the other.

THE WAY THE COOKIE CRUMBLES

Everyone is curious about cookies. We've all heard they're harmless, and for the most part they are. Cookies exist to help you access Web sites more quickly. What they do is identify you to a site so you don't have to go through an identification process each time you visit the site.

The downside is that cookies are used to gather personal information about you. Cookies are planted to collect information about your interests and build lists, which marketers use to target you with junk e-mail, snail mail, and possibly even phone calls. To be fair, the larger companies don't use the information unless you tell them it's OK. You'll often be asked if you prefer not to receive e-mail. However, some sites don't offer the option.

All of this is fairly harmless, and it isn't illegal by any means. But anyone obtaining information by "tapping in" to a Web site is certainly breaking the law and will be prosecuted if caught. No one can get information that you haven't entered yourself. Unfortunately, if you're nervous about cookies, you'll find that an increasing number of sites won't display properly if you refuse to accept them.

If you'd like to eliminate cookie use and still be able to access certain sites, what you need is a way to convince those sites that you've accepted cookies, when you really haven't. A program called Cookie Crusher can handle this job for you, and you'll find it at http://www.thelimitsoft.com/cookie.html.

We haven't used this utility extensively, so we can't yet provide a complete report. But if you download Cookie Crusher, you can use it free for 30 days. If you like it, you can register for $10.

CHOOSE YOUR ATTACHMENTS

When you send attachments to someone, try to keep the files generic. That is, if you need to send text files, use the WordPad format--something everyone has. Although many people use Word or WordPerfect, plenty do not. So sending a Word file may cause problems for some of your recipients.

As a general rule, don't send special format files (from word processors, etc.), unless you're sure the recipient can read them.

If you don't have Microsoft Word, but you encounter Word files on the Internet or receive them via e-mail, you can look at them using the Microsoft Word viewer, which is available from http://www.microsoft.com/OfficeFreeStuff/Word/

Though the viewer will allow you to read the files, you can't modify them in any way.

CHANGING FONTS

Before you change fonts in Microsoft Internet Explorer 3, note the original settings. There's no way to put them back except by going through the procedure again. To change fonts, choose View, Fonts and then pick the font size you prefer.

Note that you can't change the font size on all Web pages, because some pages override the option. They do this to make sure the page displays the way they want it to.

ENTERING MULTIPLE ADDRESSES

Sometimes people to whom you commonly send e-mail have more than one e-mail address. You may write to someone at work about a business topic, then e-mail the same person at home with a personal message.

To set up multiple addresses for someone, open Internet Mail and choose File, Address Book. Now double-click on the name for which you have additional e-mail addresses to add. This opens the Properties dialog box for that person. Click in the E-mail Addresses text box and type in the new e-mail address. Click on Add. If you want to use the new entry as the default address, select it and click on Set as Default. Now click on OK to save your changes. When you get back to the Address Book, choose File, Close to close the dialog box.

To add a new person with multiple addresses, open Address Book and click on New Contact. Enter all the information, including one of the e-mail addresses. Click on Add. The cursor will remain in the E-mail Addresses text entry box. Enter the next address and click on Add. Continue until you've entered all the addresses for this person. Now select the one you want to use as the default and click on Set as Default. Click on OK to save your changes. Back in the Address Book, choose File, Close.

CHOOSE YOUR HEADERS

When printing Web pages, you can insert a personal header or footer (or both) in place of the defaults. To make the selection, choose File, Page Setup. When the Page Setup dialog box opens, click on Headers/Footers.

Before you change the headers or footers, note the original entries. You'll have to re-enter them if you ever want to go back to the default.

To change the existing headers and footers, just replace any or all of the existing entries with your own notes, then click on OK, and OK again. Your custom entries will appear on every page you print until you change them again (your changes don't apply solely to the current page).

If you'd like to eliminate all headers and footers, follow the procedure we described and just delete all the entries. When you're finished, click on OK, and OK again.

NEWS IN MODERATION

If you use Internet News, you probably know that this is one of the easiest routes your kids can take to access explicit, offensive, and just plain stupid information.

If you allow your kids to use Internet News, you can relieve the burden somewhat by subscribing only to moderated groups. Unmoderated groups allow almost anything to be posted, and it's now common for people to post ads (and even photos) for sites you might consider undesirable. But this is much less likely to happen in moderated groups, where moderators delete inappropriate posts before they ever appear.

FAST FAVORITES

When you run across a URL you'd like to add to your Favorites folder, you don't necessarily have to navigate to the page and then choose Favorites, Add to Favorites. All you need to do is right-click on the URL and choose Add to Favorites.

This is a useful technique when you're busy and spot a URL you'd like to visit later. Add it to your Favorites folder now--you can always remove it later if it turns out to be a dud.

CREATING E-MAIL GROUPS

If you commonly need to send a single e-mail message to a number of recipients in Microsoft Internet Mail, you can create a Group. Go to File, Address Book, and in the dialog box that opens, click on New Group. Give the group a name, click on Add, and then select the members from your Address Book list, clicking on Add for each member. After you make your selections, click on OK. Click on OK again to save your changes and close the Address Book.

When you compose a new message that's going to all the recipients in your group, simply double-click on the To icon and select your new group from the list. Click on To, and click on OK to continue with your e-mail composition.

TEXT FILES FOR INTERNET MAIL

We recently discussed the fact that you can send a text file either as an e-mail attachment or inserted into a message. To do this, choose Insert, Text File. When the dialog box opens, choose a text file to insert. Note that you can only select a file with a .TXT extension.

This poses a problem for some users because of the way word processors save certain types of text files. For example, if you save a document as formatted text (Microsoft Word calls this MS- DOS Text with Layout), many word processors will use an extension other than .TXT. Word uses an .ASC extension.

The way around the problem is to open Windows Explorer, locate the file, and rename it. If your file is named Test.asc, for example, change it to Test.txt. Now Mail can send it with the formatting intact.

FRIENDLY SITES ARE GOOD

In Microsoft Internet Explorer, when you click on a URL you'll see the site to which you're navigating in the status bar. You'll see the site name only if you've told Internet Explorer to show "friendly" sites. If you only see some weird numbers in the status bar, choose View, Options, and click on the Advanced tab. Select Show Friendly URLs, click on Apply, and click on OK. Now you'll see those Status bar addresses in plain language.

CAN I QUOTE YOU ON THAT?

When replying to e-mail messages and newsgroup articles, you want to get your point across. But that can be difficult unless your recipient knows exactly what you're talking about. One way to guarantee that the recipient understands your references is to quote the original message in your reply.

To do this in e-mail, open Internet Mail and choose Mail, Options. Click on the Send tab and make sure the check box labeled Include Message in Reply is selected. Click on OK to close the dialog box.

To achieve the same result with your newsgroup responses, go to Internet News and choose News, Options. On the Send tab, select Include Original Message in Reply.

IF AT FIRST YOU DON'T SUCCEED, TRY ANOTHER TIME ZONE

When you click on a URL during an Internet rush hour, you may get a dialog box informing you that the site returned information, but you can't get to the page. Don't give up too quickly--often you can reach the desired page just by trying again immediately. If you can't make it after three or four tries, consider coming back to it later, but don't assume the URL is dead.

If you get stalled out while trying to download a file, try to find out if you can get the same file from a different site. Sometimes you can successfully download a file during a busy time by choosing a server that's in a different time zone. For example, if you live in the Eastern United States and are having trouble downloading a file at 10:00 a.m., you might have better luck with a West Coast site, where the time is 7:00 a.m.

TO SUBSCRIBE OR NOT TO SUBSCRIBE

You don't have to subscribe to a newsgroup to read its contents. If you click on Newsgroups and enter a search word, it will bring up a list of possibilities. Click on an entry to select it and click on Go To to read its postings.

If you would like to subscribe to one of the located groups, all you have to do is double-click on the entry. You still need to click on Go To in order to read the postings.

To unsubscribe to a newsgroup, click on Newsgroups and click on the Subscribed tab. Double-click on a group to unsubscribe.

MOUSELESS NAVIGATION

You can get anywhere on a Web page without using the mouse. All you have to do is use the Tab key. Each time you press Tab, you'll move to the next URL. If the page you're viewing has more than one frame, pressing Tab will move through all the URLs in the current frame and then switch you to the next frame.

To navigate to a selected URL, just press Enter. Of course, you can use the Home, End, Page Up, Page Down, and Arrow keys to navigate through a page that's longer than one screen.

BY A THREAD

When you read the postings in a newsgroup, you often want to follow a particular thread. Say there's a posted question on a subject that interests you. You click on the little plus sign to the left of the message to see the other messages in the thread. Note that replies can also have replies--that is, you can have threads within threads.

You can have the threads automatically expanded if you like. Just open News and choose News, Options. Now click on the Read tab and select Auto Expand Conversation Threads, click on Apply, and click on OK.

IT'S NOT YOUR DEFAULT

The first time you open Microsoft Internet Explorer, it asks if you want to make it your default browser. So you do. Then you load other software, and sometimes this other software loads a different browser. Now you get the question again.

This happens because the other browser has made itself the default. Just click on Yes when asked and go ahead with your work. Check into the other software. Perhaps you can use Microsoft Internet Explorer rather than the browser that shipped with the program. If so, you can uninstall the other browser and go back to normal. If you can't designate Microsoft Internet Explorer as a permanent default for whatever reason, just keep insisting it's the default when asked.

START OFF WITH A SEARCH

To make a search page your start page, navigate to the page and then choose View, Options and click on Navigation. Now click on Use Current. Click on Apply and then OK to close the dialog box and save your changes.

YOU CAN QUOTE ME

But don't make the quote too long. When you're posting to a newsgroup, you need to include at least a portion of the message to which you're responding. All too often, however, the quoted passages are much longer than they need to be. Newsgroup geeks get irritated when the quoted material gets too long.

Microsoft News will inform you if a quote exceeds 80 percent of the message content, but don't wait for the warning. Trim those quotes to the minimum needed for comprehension before you send them.

WORK WHILE YOU WORK

If you're in a hurry and hate to sit around drinking coffee while you download a long file, just press Ctrl-N to open a new browser window. Now you can surf to your heart's content while the download proceeds. Oh sure, you'll slow the download somewhat, but it beats sitting around drinking coffee, doesn't it?

Alternatively, you can continue to navigate the Web while a download is in progress by simply clicking on a favorite or typing a URL into the Address box. It's just that it might be easier to keep track of what's happening if you open a new window.

HOLD MY MAIL

All those Microsoft Mail messages that you're not sure of can stack up quickly. We mean those messages that you've read but aren't sure you should delete quite yet. If you leave them in the Inbox, the folder will get large very quickly. If you save them individually, you'll probably forget all about them. So, why not create a new folder to hold them? You could call the folder Hold. Choose File, Folder, Create. Type in the name of your new folder (such as "Hold") and click on OK. Now, when you want to save a message for later consideration, click on the message to select it, and then choose Mail, Move To, Hold.

You can shorten this procedure with keystrokes. Click on the message and press (in sequence) Alt-M-V. Now use the arrow key to select the Hold folder and press Enter.

WHAT A PANE!

There's actually a hidden pane in Microsoft Internet News. It contains three folders: Outbox, Posted Items, and Saved Items. To access these folders, click the down arrow in the Newsgroups address bar to expand the list. You can now select one of the folders. If you don't see the Address bar, choose View, Toolbars and it will appear.

DIAL IT AGAIN, AND AGAIN, AND AGAIN

If you're having trouble connecting to your ISP, you can instruct your computer to redial when a connection attempt fails. Double-click My Computer to open it. Now click Dial-up Networking to open it. Choose Connections, Settings. Select Redial and then set the number of tries you want the system to attempt before giving up. Set the time between tries and then click OK to close the dialog box and save your changes.

NO REPLY

If you attempt unsuccessfully to reply to a newsgroup message, you may not have Microsoft Internet News set as your default news client. To set it, choose News, Options and click Read. Now, select Make Microsoft News your default news reader. Now when you click Reply to Author, Microsoft Internet Mail should open.

FIND WHAT YOU WANT WHEN YOU WANT IT

If you're working with a program and realize that you need to find something on the Internet, you can double-click the Internet Explorer icon to open Explorer. Then you can navigate to a search site and begin looking.

There's a quicker way, though. What if you put the search engine URL into one of your folders--or on the desktop? Or even in the Start menu, where you can always get to it?

Run Internet Explorer and navigate to your favorite search engine. Now choose Favorites, Add to Favorites and click OK. At this point, you can close Internet Explorer.

The next thing you need to do is locate your Favorites folder on your hard disk. Because the location can vary somewhat, click the desktop, then press F3. This will open Find. In the Named text entry box, type Favorites. Now click the arrow at the right side of the Look In list box to expand it. Select your C: drive (or whatever it's called). Make sure Include Subfolders is selected and click Find Now.

When you locate the Favorites folder, double-click it (yes, right there in Find). When it opens, drag the Search URL to Start. When you release the mouse button, the Search URL will appear in the Start menu. All you have to do now is click Start and choose the URL, and Microsoft Internet Explorer will open, dial the ISP, and navigate to the search site.

WHY USE ROT-13?

If you get a news posting that looks scrambled, it probably is. And it's probably scrambled using ROT-13. To read such a message, choose Edit, Unscramble (ROT-13).

You may ask why people bother with ROT-13, since unscrambling it is so easy. ROT-13 is primarily used to warn people that the message may contain offensive material. Thus, the reader is forewarned and may choose not to unscramble the message.

Usually you can get some idea of the nature of the message from the information in the subject field. This will help you make an informed choice about unscrambling a particular message.

KEEP IT CLEAN

A mess is just what you'll have if you keep adding to your Favorites folder without doing a little housekeeping as you go. Microsoft Internet Explorer can help you with this because Favorites is set up to work like any other folder. This means that you can create and delete folders. As you work, place those favorite sites into folders that cover each general topic. For example, if you often visit sites related to cooking, create a Cooking folder and put those links in there. To create the folder, choose Favorites, Organize Favorites. Right-click in the Favorites window and choose New, Folder. Name the folder and press Enter.

You can also create a folder when you add a site to your Favorites. Choose Favorites, Add to Favorites. Now click Create In. At this point, you can select a folder in which to place the new site, or you can click New Folder to create one with a matching topic. Type in the folder name and click OK. Click OK again to close the Favorites window.

CROSS-POST, BUT DON'T SPAM

There are times when you want to post to more than one newsgroup. For example, if you want to ask a question about Windows 95, you might post to alt.os.windows95, alt.windows95, and comp.os.ms-windows.win95.misc.

Stop short of spamming, though. Spamming is less a matter of WHAT you post than HOW MUCH you post to how many newsgroups. Post only to those groups that cover the subject of your post. Remember that most newsgroup members take offense at commercial postings, unless they're appropriate for the group. For example, if you sell fluffy little stuffed animals and you post your ads to dozens of groups (most of which have nothing to do with fluffy animals), you'll very soon be labeled a spammer. On the other hand, if you post your ad to a group that specializes in fluffy animal collecting as a hobby, most members will appreciate your post.

MULTIPLE E-MAIL RECIPIENTS

You can send a single message to multiple recipients using Microsoft Internet Mail. Just click New Message and then double-click the To icon to open the Address Book. Now you can select a recipient and then click To. Repeat until you've selected all the recipients.

After you make your selections, click OK. You can click Send now. As you know, the message may not be sent until you also click Send and Receive.

The only drawback is that all the recipients' names will appear on all the messages. So if you don't want Mary Smith to see that you also sent the message to John Smith, you'll have to send them separately.