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Bo's Browser Wars | MSIE News Front | Security | Next PageF | Updated 07/12/06
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Here is just one example of what you'll find here:
Stop Sites From Loading

It's extremely frustrating when a website takes ages to load due to millions of advertisments and lousy coding. It is even worse when we accidentally click on a link and are redirected to a webpage which begins spawning pop ups by the thousands... okay, maybe I over exaggerated, you know what I mean. A simple way to stop webpages from loading, and to stop a plethora of pop ups from appearing, is to press Escape (Esc). Essentially, this is the same as pressing the infamous stop button which is characteristic of all web browsers, but much easier to do when being flooded with aggravating pop ups.

Microsoft Internet Explorer 7.0 now in public beta testing. See the report here F

Just downloaded Windows XP with Service Pack 2? 
You are indeed, a brave sole. Now you need some advise on some new problems. Microsoft Service Packs and patches come with their own set of problems. These solutions may be just what you are looking for.
Several of you have discovered that some things just don't work any more with Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 with Service Pack 2. This is the short list of problems and solutions directly from the MSDN website. this is, of course, off site content and we are not responsible for changes. F Click here for the short list.

Keep IE secure by configuring the right settings
IE has the ability to provide a secure browsing experience. But it's the responsibility of the organization or the user to configure it properly.

When it comes to the newer versions of Windows (including Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, and Windows 2000), IE 6 is an extension and integral part of the operating system. Using IE 6, you can block pop-ups, disable Java and ActiveX controls, and protect yourself from cross-site scripting.

Find out what you need to know about Fconfiguring the right security settings in IE, and familiarize yourself with IE's default settings.

Internet Explorer Browser Tips and Tricks Continued

Problems with MSIE 6.0? Click here to view Microsoft's FAQ pages.
Still can't find an answer to your question? Try the Microsoft Newsgroups. here
Visit the Microsoft Internet Explorer Support Center - Click HereF.
Got a Problem not found here? Email Me HereF.

The Most Asked Question
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These questions seem to come up most, so I decided to place them at the top of the list:
**Obnoxious Home Page Arrives, and Won't Go Away.
Porn sites are getting more and more pushy everyday. A reader writes:

Problems & Solutions for MSIE 6.0 with Service Pack 2 directly from Microsoft:

That is the short list containing solutions for the most often asked questions. For the long list, see:

Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0Internet Explorer Updates and add-ons:

1.   Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 1
2.   Update for Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 1 (KB831167)
3.   Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 1 (KB832894)
4.   Internet Explorer 5.5 Service Pack 2 for Windows Me
5.   Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer 6 (KB832894)
6.   Internet Explorer 6 SP1 Update: Error Message When You Try to Visit Web Pages That Are Opened by JavaScript Functions in Frames
7.   Rights Management Add-on for Internet Explorer
8.   Internet Explorer 5.1.7 for Mac OS 8.1 to 9.x
9.   Update for Internet Explorer 6 SP1 64-bit Edition (KB831167)
10.   Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 1 (KB824145)

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Have a question about Internet Explorer? Email me with it. Have a tip you'd like to share with the rest of us? Click here and if it is a good one, we'll post it here for others to use.

The Look of IE

Make Your Own Bookmark Icons   G
Ever bookmark a Web site in IE and discover that the bookmark you've created has a custom icon? It's easy to make your own, and it doesn't require anything other than you placing a single non-executable file in the root folder of your Web site.

First, create a standard 16x16 bitmap icon using your favorite image-editing program, name it favicon.ico, and place it in the top-level directory of your Web site. If all goes well, IE should detect it automatically when you bookmark or browse the site. This site www.favicon.com includes a Java applet for quickly building your own icon.

A Time to Print    G
You can set your browser to include time and date information when you print a Web page. Go to File/Page Setup in IE, or Netscape Navigator for that matter. IE allows you to print the time and date in either the header or the footer. You have to enter the proper codes in the Header or Footer box. If you want the time and date, type &t &d in the appropriate text box. If you leave a few spaces between the codes, the time and date on the printed page will be separated a bit.

In Navigator, check "Date printed" under Footer, and your printouts will include the date and time.

Print the Wallpaper   G
If you want to print a Web page the way it looks on your screen -- complete with background color -- you can enable background printing. In IE 5.5, select Tools/Internet Options/Advanced. Scroll to Printing and check the "Print background colors and images" box. Click OK. Remember that printing the background will slow your print job and might obscure the text if you use a monochrome printer.

Click to See a Larger Image Pick Your Font    G
You can override the fonts used on a Web page by telling IE 5.5 to always use the text style you prefer. Select Tools/Internet Options and open the General tab. Click the Fonts button and pick your preferred font and font size. Exit the dialog box and click the Accessibility button. Check the options "Ignore font styles specified on Web pages" and "Ignore font sizes specified on Web pages."
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AutoComplete with 5.5

Speed up AutoComplete   G
When you type the first few characters of a Web address on IE's address bar, you're presented with a drop-down list of possible matches. To go to the exact page you're looking for, use your keyboard's down arrow to scroll down the list and hit Enter on the address you want.

If the AutoComplete list is crowded with hundreds of addresses, however, you may not get that drop-down list even after a long delay. The solution is to adjust the number of days IE saves those addresses in memory. Here's how:

First, select Tools/Internet Options and click the General tab. Adjust the number next to "Days to keep pages in history" to no more than a month (and less, obviously, is better). If you're worried that you'll lose an important address due to that time limit, just bookmark it by adding its Web page to your Favorites.

Extend AutoComplete   G
For a site you've previously visited, you can type an incomplete URL into Internet Explorer's Address bar, and the browser's AutoComplete feature will fill in the rest. However, by default, this feature searches only for entries with .com, .org, and .edu extensions.

You can edit the Registry to make it also search for .gov and .net URL extensions. Run Regedit and go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\UrlTemplate. You'll find six strings with these value names and data: 1 "www.%s.com" 2 "www.%s.edu" 3 "www.%s.org" 4 "%s.com" 5 "%s.edu" 6 "%s.org"

[In Windows 2000, the key is located at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\InternetExplorer\Main\UrlTemplate as well.]

Select Edit/New/String Value and add the following values and data: 7 "www.%s.net" 8 "www.%s.gov" 9 "%s.net" 10 "%s.gov"

Clear AutoComplete Forms and Passwords   G

Click to See a Larger Image This should come as no surprise to you: With cookies and AutoComplete schemes, your privacy may be at risk. For example, if somebody else can access your system, he or she can log on to Amazon.com as you and make purchases using your on-file credit card number. So if you must share your PC, a measure of security is in order.

The following instructions are only for people who share a PC with others. AutoComplete is a very handy feature, so don't disable it unless you absolutely have to. Here's how.

  1. Select Tools/Internet Options.

  2. Click the Content tab.

  3. Click the AutoComplete button.

  4. Check off the potentially dangerous options
    (Use AutoComplete for Web addresses, Forms, and User names and passwords).

  5. And now to the coup de grace: Click the Clear Passwords and
    Clear Forms buttons to erase all traces of your identity.

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Speed Up IE

Launch IE Instantly   G
Here's a shortcut for launching IE. Click the Start button, select Run, and type a Web address into the Run field. IE will open automatically and go to that address.

Bonus tip: To launch Outlook Express, click the Start button, select Run, and type "mailto:" followed by the e-mail address of the person you wish to write to, for example, mailto:billg@microsoft.com. Note: there are no spaces.

Speed up 5.5 with a Shortcut   G
If you're frustrated with the length of time IE 5.5 takes to load, start it from a shortcut with the target "D:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\IEXPLORE.EXE" -nohome (including the quotes). This works a lot faster than "about:blank". (Note: If your version of IE, and thus your IEXPLORE.EXE, resides in a different directory, make sure to point your shortcut to that directory instead.)

Quick URLs   G
When typing an address into IE's address bar, you could type in the whole thing, like www.somesite.com, or just let IE do it for you. Type the domain name (in this example, somesite) and press Ctrl-Enter. The www and the .com will be filled in for you. On the downside, this method doesn't work with other suffixes. If you don't press Ctrl-Enter after typing a word, and just press Enter, IE will automatically perform a search of the word for you.

Strip the Pictures    G
In these days of bandwidth, one tends to forget that the pipe is still very narrow. Web pages laden with graphics, animations, and video clips are still slowing things down. Now, we're not saying you should disable all multimedia objects on your browser (though we'll show you how to do it if you're so inclined). Our solution is an on/off toggle for downloading or blocking images to your browser.

Click to See a Larger Image First, the longer way: In Internet Explorer, select Tools/Internet Options. Click the Advanced tab. Scroll down the list to Multimedia and check off each of the options you wish to block. If you ever want to revert to the default settings, you'll need to go through this rigmarole all over again.

Here's a better way. Go to Microsoft's Internet Explorer site and download the prosaically named Web Accessories for IE 5. Think of it as TweakUI for IE.

One of this collection's goodies is called Image Toggler. When you install it, you add an Image Toggler icon on IE's Links toolbar. How many people really use the Links bar, for example? It's an unnecessary real-estate hog. But we need to activate it just this once: Right-click IE's toolbar and click Links to activate it (if there's a checkmark next to it, don't click). Locate the Image Toggler icon and right-drag it down to the Taskbar. Now it'll be easily accessible, and you can turn off the Links bar. When you reach a page with too many graphics and animations, just click that icon the Taskbar. You might need to hit F5 to refresh

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IE Goodies

More Java, Please   G

Java can be a finicky language -- it works on some sites and crashes on others. If that's been your experience, download the latest Java Virtual Machine (Java VM), the environment that allows you to run Java on Web pages, from Microsoft's Java site. Once installed, visit the site that fails to run Java to see whether the problem has been resolved.

If you still can't display Java applets, select Tools/Internet Options, click the Advanced tab, and click next to "JIT compiler for virtual machine enabled." You'll need to restart your system but in Windows 2000, you need only close and reopen IE for this to take effect.

How to Fix IE 5.5    G
IE 5.5 comes with a new repair tool. To get to it, launch Add/Remove Programs from your Control Panel. Click "Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5" in the window of the Install/Uninstall tab, and then click Add/Remove. Select the "Repair the current installation of Internet Explorer" radio button. Click OK.

Parlez-vous Français?    G
It's called the World Wide Web, but not everyone in the world speaks English, right? If you regularly surf sites written in foreign languages, configure your browser to read the text. Select Tools/Internet Options in IE 5.5, open the General tab, and click the Languages button. Click Add and choose the language you want your browser to support from the list. Some languages, like those from the Far East, will require the addition of the appropriate language pack which may not ship with your version of Windows.

Content Police   G
Click to See a Larger Image Sharing your PC with an Internet connection can be a big responsibility, especially if you have youngsters. To control who sees what on your Web browser, go to Tools/Internet Options and open the Content tab. Click Enable under Content Advisor. You'll be prompted to create a supervisor password and define sensitivity settings for potentially offensive content types.
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CREATING A WEB PAGE OF FAVORITES

If you're like most people, you use your Favorites menu all the time to access both Web pages and folders and files on your computer. You may not have known that you can create a local Web page of all your favorites, so you can see how they're organized and access pages with a single click. In Internet Explorer, go to File, Import And Export. Click Next and choose Export Favorites from the box at the left. Click Next again, select the Favorites Source Folder at the top to export all Favorites, and then click Next. Choose a location for your bookmarks page from Export To File Or Address and click Next one last time. You now have a handy Web page listing all of your favorites.

If you use AOL's Netscape, you now have a bookmark.HTML to share your Explorer and Netscape bookmarks and favorites.

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Getting the Word out with a few key strokes

PROBLEM: You're tired of the hassles associated with moving content from a Web page into another application like a word processor. Sometimes you want text and images, while other times you want only the text. Invariably, your browser provides you with too much or not enough.

SOLUTION: Both Internet Explorer and Netscape Communicator use the same command to select the contents of the current page (or frame if you are on a framed page). Press Ctrl+A in IE, and you select the entire page including the graphics on the page. Press Ctrl+A in Netscape, and you select only the text content. So if all you want is text, use Netscape.

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ADDING INTERNET PREFIXES AND SUFFIXES AUTOMATICALLY

Accessing a Web page from any Windows address bar. You can enter any string of characters in an address bar and then press Ctrl-Enter; Windows will automatically add both "www" and ".com", and then search for the page on the Internet. For example, if we type

Topica

in an address bar and then press Ctrl-Enter, Windows will take us to the Topica Web site at www.topica.com. Give it a try.

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PROBLEM: You waste a lot of paper when you print Web pages in Internet Explorer.

SOLUTION: First, highlight the portion of the Web page that interests you. Then click on File, Print, and select the Selection option button. Finally, click on OK, and only the highlighted portion of the page will print.

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ONE-CLICK BROWSER TRICK

PROBLEM: You're looking for a faster way to open a Web page in a new window using Internet Explorer.

SOLUTION: Rather than simply right-clicking on the desired link and choosing Open in New Window from the pop-up menu, simply hold down the Shift key in Internet Explorer when you left-click on the link. The page will open in a new window automatically

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Opening links in new windows......an old dog with some new tricks

In Internet Explorer, you can open a link in a new window either by Shift-clicking the link or by right-clicking the link and choosing Open In New Window from the pop-up menu.

If Internet Explorer's settings are changed or corrupted, you can sometimes lose this capability. If that happens to you, restore it by selecting Run from the Start Menu and typing:

regsvr32 shdocvw.dll

Then click OK and restart your computer.

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Be sure to get the Internet Explorer update to 5.01
Of course by the time you read this, Internet 7. infinity will have come out and Bill Gates II will have been born.

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BROWSE YOUR HARD DRIVE FROM INTERNET EXPLORER

You're browsing the Web in an Internet Explorer window, and suddenly you want to look at something on your hard drive. Do you go back to the desktop and navigate your way there? Sure, if you like to take the long way around. For the most efficient route, try this: Select Go, My
Computer (or press Alt-G, C), and there are your local drives. Now you can navigate your way to the folder you need, as you would inside any other Explorer window.

(Tip: To jump directly to a folder other than My Computer, type the folder's path on Internet Explorer's Address bar, then press Enter.)

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PROBLEM: You want to wipe out the record of Web sites you've visited from the Address list in Internet Explorer.

SOLUTION: Choose Tools, Internet Options. On the General tab, click on Clear History.

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PROBLEM: You've found a useful Web site and want to know what's the easiest way to locate other sites devoted to the same subject.

SOLUTION: In Internet Explorer choose Tools, Show Related Links.The IE search feature appears on the left side of the window and lists sites similar to the active site.

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PROBLEM: You want to remove the headers and footers when you print data from a Web site using Internet Explorer.

SOLUTION: Choose File, Page Setup. Highlight the header or footer codes in the Page Setup dialog box and press Delete.

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PROBLEM: You want to reorder your Favorites list in Internet Explorer.

SOLUTION: With the Favorites list displayed, click on and drag a listing to another position in the list. A thick horizontal line indicates the new position as you drag the item. You can also
organize your list by creating folders (think of them as categories of topics) and moving items from the main list into these folders. In Internet Explorer 5 choose Favorites, Organize Favorites to create folders and place items in them

Something Fishy at Netscape

PROBLEM: You've heard about something called the Fish Cam, but you don't know what it is or where to find it.

SOLUTION: Referred to as "audacious uselessness" and billed as the second oldest Webcam, the Fish Cam has become a folk legend of sorts. Here's the scoop: There's a large aquarium at the offices of Netscape, and someone decided early on to point a camera at it. Thus was born the Fish Cam. In Netscape Communicator just press Ctrl+Alt+F and the Fish Cam page is displayed. There are several links for selecting any of a number of cameras pointed at the tank. Internet Explorer users can find the Fish Cam at
http://cgi.zdnet.com/slink?84924:3802671 .

Got a Problem not found here? Email Me HereF.

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