Microsoft Internet Explorer 3 Tips #5



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*1. PRINT YOUR FAVORITES        
  
Here's a question from reader Cherian K.: 

"I need a way to print the complete contents of my Favorites
 folder. I tried to print them from the Command Prompt
 by entering 
 
dir /s c:\windows\favorites > prn 
 
The problem is, this appears to print only part of the Favorites
 folder. When I print again, the remainder of the Favorites
 print, along with the document I am trying to print. Can you
 help with this problem? I use an HP laser printer." 

Most laser printers print only after they receive a full page of
 data. It sounds like you're getting at least one full page,
 then you get only a partial page. The next time you print a
 document, you get more data and the remaining Favorites
 data prints. 

The best approach to solving your problem is to force the
 printer to print your Favorites data by sending it a form-feed
 signal. You can write a batch file to handle this task. To do
 this, open the Command Prompt and type 
 
copy con ff.bat 
 
and press Enter. Now type  
 
@echo off 
 
and press Enter. Next type 
 
echo Alt + 012 >prn 
 
To enter this line, hold down the Alt key and type 012 on the
 numerical keypad. Press Enter. The line now looks like this: 
 
echo ^L >prn 
 
Finally, press F6, then press Enter. Now you can type 
 
dir c:\windows\favorites /s >prn 
 
and then type 
 
ff  
 
and press Enter. Your Favorites will print in their entirety
 because the form feed (ff.bat) forces the printer to finish
 the job.


*2. SELECT A WORD        
  
This Mail question is from reader Dale R.: 

"I have a question about one of the options in Microsoft Mail.
 To see what I'm talking about, run Mail and choose Mail,
 Options. When the Options dialog box opens, click the Send tab.
 There's a check box labeled 'When selecting, automatically
 select entire word.' It seems to make no difference whether this
 option is selected or not. Can you explain what this option is
 supposed to do?" 

We can try. With the "When selecting, automatically select entire
 word" check box selected (the default), create a new message
 (press Ctrl-N) and type an address and a few sentences. Now
 position the cursor to the left of one of your sentences and
 start dragging to the right to select text. Once you select the
 first letter of a word, the entire word gets selected. If you
 turn off the option, you can select individual letters in all
 the words of the sentence. 

To turn the option off, choose Mail, Options. When the Options
 dialog box opens, click the Send tab. Now deselect the "When
 selecting, automatically select entire word" check box, then
 click OK to close the dialog box and save your changes.


*3. BE CORRECT        
  
Reader Nola S. sends this tip for new Newsgroup users: 

"When you reply to a newsgroup message, it's a good idea to
 include enough of the message to which you're replying so the
 recipient can understand your reply. The problem is that many
 new users make the quotes too long. Nobody wants to read through
 a quote that's much longer than the message. It's best to copy
 only the most pertinent portion of a message to which you want
 to reply, then include just that part in your reply." 

Nola is correct. Many newsgroup regulars get huffy about long
 quoted messages. However, you have a built-in guide when you use
 Microsoft Mail and News--the program informs you when a quote
 exceeds 80 percent of the message content.


*4. MOUSE-FREE ORGANIZATION        
  
Reader Harley F. sent in this Microsoft Internet Explorer 3
 Favorites question: 

"I like using the keyboard as much as possible to get around in
 Microsoft Internet Explorer 3. Is there a way to organize the
 Favorites folder using only keystrokes?" 

Yes, you can do almost anything with only keystrokes in Microsoft
 Internet Explorer 3. If you want to organize your Favorites
 folder, press Ctrl-B. This opens the Favorites folder.  

Now press Tab until the selection appears in the file list. Use
 the down arrow to select the folder you want to work with, then
 press Enter to open the selected folder. You can use the arrow
 keys now to select a file. With the files selected, press Delete
 to delete the file, or use the Tab key to select the Move or
 Rename buttons. When you've selected a button, press the
 spacebar to click it. 

If you need to go back to the main Favorites folder, press Tab
 until you select the Folder list box. Press the down arrow to
 expand the list, then move the arrow keys to select Favorites.
 Press Enter to navigate to the selected folder. 

All this requires a little practice, but you can whip through
 these steps quickly once you become accustomed to the keystrokes


*5. CLEAR SURFING        
  
Every month we get asked if there is a way to get rid of all
 those banners that pop up everywhere you go on the Net. Now
 there IS a way. 
Go to 

http://www.pcworld.com/fileworld/
file_description/0,1458,6049,00.html  

and download @Guard version 2.2. This shareware program gets rid
 of most banners. When we tested @Guard, we found that it blocked
 18 pictures and 46 cookies in only a few minutes of surfing. 

You can use @Guard free for 30 days. If you decide to keep using
 the program, registration is $29.95. Contact the manufacturer
 for the latest version information.


*6. 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 other browser tags along with
 it--and you get the question again. 

This happens because the new browser has made itself the default.
 When asked whether IE3 should be your default browser, click Yes
 and go ahead with your work.  

Check out the other software. Maybe you can get it to work with
 IE3 instead of 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 IE3 as a permanent default for whatever
 reason, just keep insisting it's the default when asked.


*7. YOUR FAVORITE MESS        
  
A mess is just what you'll have if you keep adding to your
 Favorites folder without doing a little housekeeping as you go.
 Internet Explorer can help. Because Favorites is set up to work
 like any other folder, you can create and delete subfolders. As
 you work, drop your favorite sites into topic-specific folders. 

Let's say you often visit sites related to cooking. Create a
 Cooking folder and put those links in it. To create the folder,
 choose Favorites, Organize Favorites. Right-click the Favorites
 window and choose New, Folder. Name the folder and press Enter. 

Another way to create a folder is 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 the folder name and click OK. Click OK
 again to close the Favorites window.


*8. IS ANYBODY LISTENING?        
  
If you attempt unsuccessfully to reply to a newsgroup message,
 you may not have Internet News set as your default news client.
 Choose News, Options, and click Read. Now select Make Microsoft
 Internet News your default news reader. When you click Reply To
 Author now, Internet Mail should open.


*9. SCRAMBLED, NOT STIRRED        
  
If you get a news posting that looks scrambled, it probably IS
 scrambled--with ROT-13. To read such a message, choose Edit,
 Unscramble (ROT-13). 

Why would anyone bother with ROT-13 when unscrambling it is so
 easy? ROT-13 is primarily used to warn people that the message
 they're about to read may contain offensive material.
 Forewarned, the reader may choose not to unscramble the message. 

Of course, you can usually get some idea of the nature of the
 message from the information in the subject field.


*10. THE BIG PICTURE        
  
Have you seen any surround videos? A surround video is a
 360-degree picture you can scroll through to see everything.
 You'll find good examples of real estate walkthroughs and
 panoramic landscapes at 

http://www.baker-design.com 

To view the Microsoft CarPoint surround video gallery, travel to 

http://carpoint.msn.com/gallery 

Here you'll find a list of surround videos of current
 automobiles. You can use your mouse pointer to move around the
 interior and exterior of a given car--all sides, even the floor
 mats and headliner. This site will also want you to download
 some software, but it is a Microsoft site, after all. If you
 can't trust Microsoft with your browser, who can you trust?
