Most people use Internet Explorer to
browse the net. It loads up fast because
parts of it is loaded by Windows as the
latter boots up. Using the feedback from its
huge user base, Microsoft has made
numerous improvements, which you can
use to your advantage.
Disable the Links toolbar and
save space. Remove the
Explorer view for the same
reason.
Customize the toolbar
via View » Toolbars »
Customize.
Blank home page: Set your
home page to a blank one so
that it loads up faster. This is
done via Tools » Internet
Options » General » Use
Blank.
Offline browsing:You do not
have to connect to the
Internet to revisit a page. You
can access it from the cache.
This is done via Tools »
Internet Options »
Temporary Internet Folders
» Settings » Check newer
versions of stored pages: »
Never. After setting up IE like
this, you can browse offline
by, click on
the History button. This will
open up the History folder in
a left pane. Browse through
this to access the pages that
you have visited earlier. You
check the latest version on
the net however by clicking
on the Refresh button.
Context Menu Extensions
For IE: IE allows you to copy
the address of a link with just
two clicks. But to copy the
address of an image on a
webpage, you have make at
least 5 clicks. To make things
like this more easier, you can
create your own context
menu extensions. For this,
some new keys will have to
be added to the registry.
These keys will refer to
Javascript or VBScript
functions placed in some
special HTML files. Extract the
HTM files to C:\. Extract the
cmes.reg and double click on
it. The keys will be merged
into the registry. Your IE
context menu will have new
options - "Copy All Hyperlink
Address" (default), "Copy All
Image Addresses" (default),
"Copy Image Address" (on
images), "Set Text Size To
Medium" (on selected text)
and "Copy HTML Code" (on
selected text). You will have
to make some modification
to the cmes.reg file if you are
not able to place files at C:\, a
common scenario for people
who are on a network.
Computer Security: Some
websites have ads that tell
you that your computer
could be transmitting vital/
private information about
you, which could be targeted
by hackers and viruses. They
will tell you to download a
security software.
Considering the fact that they
are using wrong tactics to sell
their product, it is quite
possible that their software
could be doing more harm
than good. No matter which
software you use, it is not
possible to completely hide
your computer on the net.
People who have always-on
Internet connections like
broadband or cable should
instead use firewalls like the
trusty ZoneAlarm or Tiny.
There are other websites that will ask
visitors to install ActiveX controls
like Gatoror Bonzi. These are spyware and
Internet users should avoid them.
Neither should you install programs
like MP3 Dancer. These are spyware. Even if
you uninstall them, they will still remain on
your computer without your knowledge.
Paranoia 1: IE's autocomplete
feature may throw up some
web addresses at the address
bar, which you may not want
others to see. So, clear the
history. This is done
by Internet Options » Clear
History. If otherwise you
want to selectively remove
history items, then delete the
appropriate folders inside the
History folder. In Windows
9x/Me, the History folder is
inside the Windows folder. In
Windows 2000/XP, it will be
inside the Documents and
Settings\«User name»\Local
Settings\ folder.
Paranoia 2: Deleting the files
in the Temporary Internet
Files folder can remove only
part of your tracks. Cookies
stored by websites usually
remain in this folder with
their full web address. So,
that is a security violation. To
remove them,
choose Internet Options »
Temporary Internet Folder »
Delete Cookies.
Paranoia 3: All evidence is
still not removed. There is a
file inside theTemporary
Internet Files folder called
index.dat, which has some
evidence of your browsing
history. Delete this file too. IE
will regenerate another
index.dat later.
Paranoia 4: When the
Autocomplete feature is
enabled, all your personal
information including
passwords are stored on the
computer, which is available
for others to misuse. So,
when you are done with
browsing at your office or an
Internet cafe, follow the
above three steps and clear
the saved data by
choosing Internet Options »
Content » AutoComplete »
Clear Forms and Clear
Passwords. Sometimes,
the Internet Options menu
option might be disabled in
your office or web cafe. So,
delete theHKEY_CURRENT_
USER\Software\Microsoft
\Internet Explorer
\IntelliForms key from the
registry. If you want to steal
or backup passwords, export
this key and import it on a
different machine or
installation. You will also have
to copy the {username}.pwl
file and cookies to the new
machine/installation.
Sometimes, there are ActiveX
programs that sit silently
recording everything. You
can check them out
at Internet Options »
Temporary Internet Files »
Settings » View Objects. This
will open the Downloaded
Program Files folder in the
windows folder. By right-
clicking the contents, you can
either remove them or check
out their properties.
Paranoia 5: In certain
Internet cafes, silent
keyboard loggers are
installed by certain people to
collect userids and
passwords, and send them to
their email addresses.
Remove these programs
from memory and only then
browse. Also disable form
fillers such as Gator in
Internet cafes.
Dialer: When you click on a
link, IE starts the dialer
program. If this is annoying
to you, disable this
via Internet Options »
Connection » Never dial a
connection.
Saving on telephone bills:
You can make optimum use
of your online time by
opening the links in new
windows rather than the
current one. Take for
example your HotMAIL
Inbox. Every time you go
there, there are many
messages there. Instead of
just clicking on a message
and waiting for that message
to load, right click on the
message's link and
choose Open in New
Window. Go back to the
Inbox and do the same for all
other messages. By this time,
your first message would
have been downloaded.
When you finish reading it, all
the other messages would
have been downloaded in
their windows. Now, you can
logout and disconnect the
Internet connection.
Downloading recalcitrant
files: Most people use a
downloaded manager to
download huge files. But,
sometimes they run into
problems when the
download manager is not
able to catch the correct url
of the file. In such cases,
open the source of the page
via View » Source and do a
search for the download file.
Usually, the full url of the file
will be found here. Copy this
and paste it in the download
manager. If some website
prevents you from right-
clicking to save an image on
it, just look inside
the Temporary Internet
Files folder for it.
IE Toolbars ∓ Desktop
Tickers: Add the Google
Toolbar to IE. With this
toolbar, you will get to the
results without having to
visit Google's home page
first. You may also
use Yahoo! Companion
instead. With Yahoo!
Companion you will be able
to harness the power of
the Google search engine and
also get easy access to other
Yahoo! services.
If you have to keep in touch
with the latest news, then get
theReuters Desktop Ticker.
Reuters is the world's leading
news provider and almost
every newspaper and TV
station in the world gets
feeds from it. Once
connected to the Net,
headlines flash across the
ticker and you can click on
the headlines to see the news
stories in a browser window.
ESCAPE: Many people do not
know this. If a page is being
downloaded and you want to
stop it, then pressing
the Escape key will do that.
Also, pressing Backspace key
will take you to the previous
page.
Saving web pages:
Beginning with Version 5, IE
allows saving a web page in
a single file including its
images and other embedded
content. To do this,
choose Save As from
the File menu. Here in
the Save as type, chooseWeb
Archive, single file (*.mht).
Sometimes, MHT files may not
show anything even though
its thumbnail does show
something. If you disable
Javascript, you will be able to
see the whatever something
you saw in the thumbnail.
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