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 (JPG, 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.

START UP WITH A FAVORITE

The usual log-in procedure is to double-click the Microsoft Internet Explorer icon, then wait while the home page loads, then open your Favorites folder to choose a site.

Why go to a lot of trouble when you can let the computer work for you? Why not put a shortcut to the Favorites folder on your desktop? With the shortcut in place, you can open the folder and double-click on the site you want to visit. Microsoft Internet Explorer will open, Windows will dial the phone, and you'll find yourself at the desired site.

To place the shortcut on your desktop, run Windows Explorer and click the Windows folder. Locate the Favorites folder and use the right mouse button to drag the Favorites icon to your desktop. Release the mouse button and choose Create Shortcut(s) Here from the pop-up menu.

PRINT 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 Table of Links. 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.

LINK TOOLBAR

If you have several sites you visit often, you can add a Links toolbar that will have buttons to point to them. Here's how: Go to View, choose Toolbars, then click on Links. If Links is already checked, you already have the toolbar in your screen. When you get to the page that you would like to have a quick link to, click and drag the icon directly to the left of the address (usually a page with a blue "e," but sometimes a logo) into the Links toolbar. You will then only have to hit that button to get to that website.

FINDING HIDDEN TOOLBARS

Did you know there are actually three toolbars in IE? More than likely, you see only two on your screen. If you position your cursor at the bottom edge of the lower toolbar, the cursor will change to a double-sided arrow; drag down, and you'll see a third toolbar. If you want more screen real estate, collapse all the toolbars: Position your cursor at the bottom edge of the lowest toolbar and drag all the way up to the top of your screen.

EMPTYING THE TEMPORARY INTERNET FILES

As you surf the Web with IE, the program saves a ton of graphics and other files in a temporary folder for quick loading later. This folder can become quite full; if you're short on disk space, you may want to empty it periodically. To do this, open the Windows folder, then find the Temporary Internet Files folder and open it. To delete all the files in the folder press Ctrl-A, then Delete. You can also delete your temporary internet files from Internet Explorer itself. To do this, go to View|Internet Options (in IE 4.x) or Tools|Internet Options (in IE 5.x-6.x). On the first screen, you will see a section called Temporary Internet Files. Simply click on the Delete button to have IE delete these files for you.

FAVORITE URLs

When you look in the Favorites folder, you see the names assigned to the target URLs, but you don't see the addresses. If you need to get the URL of one of your favorites, choose Favorites, then Organize Favorites. When the window opens, locate the address you're interested in and right-click it. Choose Properties and click the Internet Shortcut tab when the dialog box opens. You'll see the site address in the Target URL text box.

FTP SITES

You don't necessarily need special software to work with FTP sites. If you type an FTP address into the Microsoft Internet Explorer Address Bar, the browser will take you there. Of course, you can also click the hypertext link for an FTP site to navigate to the site. Although some sites require passwords and log-in procedures, you can access and use many FTP sites with only your IE 4 - 6.0 browser.