Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 Tips #15



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*1. PRESERVING SUBSCRIPTION CONTENT IN MICROSOFT
 INTERNET EXPLORER 4
 
Here is a question from reader Harry P.: 

"I personalized the Microsoft Home page
 (http://home.microsoft.com/) and have been using it for
 several months. A few days ago, I cleaned out my Temporary
 Internet Files folder, and my home page reverted
 to the default.  

"It seems obvious to me that deleting the temporary files
 caused the page to revert, but I don't see why. Can I delete
 the temporary files without messing up my personal settings
 on the Home page?" 

As you have discovered, the information that determines what
 goes on your Home page is stored in the Temporary Internet
 Files folder. When you need to clear your temporary files,
 run Internet Explorer 4 and choose View, Internet Options.
 When the Internet Options dialog box opens, click the General
 tab (if necessary) and click Delete Files. When the Delete
 Files dialog box opens, make sure the Delete All Subscription
 Content check box is not selected and click OK. Back in Internet
 Options, click OK to close the dialog box. This will clean up
 your temporary files without deleting any cookies that may
 contain important information.


*2. AN EASY WAY TO MAKE A COPY OF YOUR FAVORITES FOLDER          
 
Here is a tip from reader Susan W.: 

"Since a full Favorites folder often represents a lot of work,
 I decided to find an easy way to make sure I always have a
 fairly recent backup of the Favorites folder. To do this, I
 decided to write a simple batch file that will copy the folder
 to a floppy disk. Here is the batch file I use: 

@echo off 
xcopy c:\windows\favorites\ /s a:\Favorites /i 

Once you have saved the batch file, you can place a shortcut to
 it on your desktop, or on the Quick Launch taskbar. All you
 have to do is put the backup floppy disk into Drive A and click
 the icon to back up your Favorites folder." 

To create Susan's batch file, run Notepad and enter the code as
 shown. When finished, choose File, Save As and name the file
 FavBack.bat (or any name of your choice as long as you use the
 BAT extension). Locate a folder for the new file and click Save
 to save the file, then close the Save As dialog box. Note that
 the file will always be available if you save it in the
 root folder (C:\). 

As Susan says, you can now create a shortcut to the new file.
 To do this, run Windows Explorer and use the right mouse button
 to drag the file's icon to your desktop. When the menu opens,
 choose Create Shortcut(s) Here.  

With the shortcut in place on your desktop, right-click it and
 choose Properties. When the Properties dialog box opens, click
 the Program tab. Now, click the arrow at the right side of the
 Run list box to expand the list. Select Minimize and then select
 the Close On Exit check box. Click OK to close the dialog box
 and record your settings. 

Now, you can double-click your new icon to copy your Favorites
 folder to a disk in Drive A. Since we told the program to run
 minimized, you won't see the MS-DOS screen when the program
 runs. You will see Drive A start, though. 

Thanks for the tip, Susan.


*3. TURNING OFF THE TASK SCHEDULER IN MICROSOFT INTERNET EXPLORER
 
4/WINDOWS 98 
Here is a Microsoft Internet Explorer 4/Windows 98 question
 from reader Jerry D.: 

"A few months ago, I bought this computer with Windows 98 and
 Microsoft Internet Explorer 4 installed. I like Windows 98 and
 Internet Explorer 4, but I hate the Task Scheduler. Why are we
 forced to use this whether we like it or not?" 

First of all, we're glad you are enjoying Windows 98 and Internet
 Explorer 4. You may enjoy them even more after we tell you how
 to turn off Task Scheduler. Double-click My Computer to open the
 window. Now, double-click the Scheduled Tasks folder to open it.
 When the Scheduled Tasks window opens, choose Advanced, Stop
 Using Task Scheduler. Now, press and hold down Shift while you
 click the Close box in the Scheduled Tasks window. This will
 close both Scheduled Tasks and My Computer. 

At this point, you will no longer see the Task Scheduler icon
 in the Windows 98 taskbar. 

Good things just keep getting better, don't they, Jerry?


*4. GOOD MANNERS IN YOUR NEWSGROUP MESSAGES         
 
Reader Warren C. says we have seldom mentioned that one should
 use good manners when posting messages to newsgroups. Well, we
 have mentioned this before, but Warren has a good point when
 it comes to newsgroup manners. Here are his suggestions. 

"You should always try to avoid posting information that isn't
 pertinent to the current news group. Avoid spamming--nobody
 likes spammers." (Spammimg is the cross-posting of messages to
 numerous newsgroups. This is usually done by people with
 something to sell. For example, it isn't uncommon to find ads
 for erotic Web sites in almost any group.) 

"Don't participate in flaming. Why propagate hate and anger?
 If you get flamed unjustly, try to ignore it. If you feel you
 must reply to a flame, try to state your position logically
 and then drop it.  

"One final point: Don't send the entire message in a reply.
 If you replay to a very long message, trim the original message
 to just enough information to make your reply coherent.
 Nobody wants to read a page of text just to see what your
 reply is about." 

Good advice, Warren.


*5. LOCATING A COPY OF REAL PLAYER ON THE INTERNET         
 
Here is a question from Jen L.:  

"I am rather new to the Internet and Microsoft Internet
 Explorer 4. I have been told that there is a program that will
 let you listen to sound files in real time. Can you tell me
 where to find this program?"  

The program you need is Real Player. Using Real Player, you can
 listen to live music and radio broadcasts on the Internet.
 To get your copy, go to   

http://www.pcworld.com/r/tw/1%2C2061%2Ctw-msie40727%2C00.html


*6. OPERATING OUTLOOK EXPRESS MAIL WITH KEYSTROKES         
 
The following Outlook Express information was sent in by
 reader Steve M.: 

"Some people might like to know about the keystrokes you can use
 with Outlook Express to make things a little quicker. For
 example, when you need to compose a new message, just press
 Ctrl-N to open the New Message window. After you type in a
 message, you can press Alt-S to send it." 

Note that pressing Alt-S sends the new message to your Outbox.
 In most cases, the message won't be sent until you click Send
 And Receive (or press Ctrl-M). 

Thanks for the tip, Steve.


*7. USING KEYSTROKES IN OUTLOOK EXPRESS NEWS         
 
In our previous tip, we discussed some keystrokes to use in
 Outlook Express Mail. Here's a News keystroke tip from
 reader Jane M.: 

"I used to use Internet Mail and News and became accustomed to
 using keystrokes. When I switched to Microsoft Internet
 Explorer 4 and Outlook Express, I decided to see if my
 keystrokes would still work. As it turned out, most of them do.
 Here are the ones I use most often.  

To open a list of available newsgroups, press Ctrl-W. 
To create a new message to the newsgroup, press Ctrl-N. 
To reply to the newsgroup, press Ctrl-G. 
To reply to the author of a message, press Ctrl-R. 
To forward the selected message, press Ctrl-F. 

I find it much easier to get around in Outlook Express News
 using the keystrokes." 

Thanks for the tip, Jane.


*8. BACKING UP YOUR REGISTRY         
 
We have often commented that making a change in your Registry is
 potentially dangerous. The best way to guard against problems
 is to always make a backup of your Registry files before you
 run RegEdit or double-click that REG file.   

You can make a backup manually using Windows Explorer. Just run
 Explorer and navigate to \Windows. Locate System.dat and copy
 it to a new folder or disk (Drive A, if you wish). Now, still
 in \Windows, find User.dat and copy it to the same location
 as System.dat.  

If you would prefer, you can download a Microsoft program that
 will back up the Registry files for you. Go to   

http://www.pcworld.com/r/tw/1%2C2061%2Ctw-ie40730%2C00.html  

and download the Microsoft Configuration Backup utility. This
 program makes it easy to keep a current Registry backup.


*9. TURNING OFF THE MODEM SPEAKER         
 
Here is a modem question from reader Elliot P.: 

"I know this isn't a strictly Internet Explorer 4 question, but
 can you tell me how to turn off the modem speaker? The sound of
 dialing and connecting drives me crazy. I have even been
 thinking of removing the speaker from the modem. I turned the
 speaker volume to zero in Control Panel and it
 did absolutely nothing." 

Repress those violent urges, Elliot, and try not to rip out the
 speaker--that isn't necessary. To shut off the speaker, click
 Start, Settings, Control Panel. When Control Panel opens,
 double-click the Modems icon. When the Modems dialog box opens,
 click Properties. In the Properties dialog box, select the
 Connection tab and click Advanced. When the Advanced Connection
 Settings dialog box opens, type 
 
ATM0  
 
in the Extra Settings box (that's a zero at the end). Now, click
 OK to close the dialog box and save the settings. Click OK again
 to close the Properties dialog box. You can now close Control
 Panel and test your new settings. Since the command ATM0 tells
 the modem to set the speaker to zero, you should no longer hear
 the modem dialing sounds. And that, my friend, will avoid any
 unnecessary physical damage to your computer!


*10. DELETING YOUR MICROSOFT INTERNET EXPLORER 4 HISTORY FILES         
 
Here is a History folder question from reader Jane M.: 

"I recently tried to delete the contents of the History folder
 using Windows Explorer. I used Ctrl-A to select all the files
 and then pressed Delete. All I got was a system beep. No files
 were deleted at all. 

"Then, I selected the History folder and chose File, Delete. I
 got a dialog box telling me that the folder is a system folder
 and asking if I really wanted to delete it. I clicked Yes and
 got another dialog box telling me that you can't
 delete the folder.  

"Does all of this make sense, or is there something odd
 about my installation?"

It all makes perfect sense--to your computer, anyway. Just as the
 dialog boxes say, History is a system folder. Although you could
 delete the folder using MS-DOS, we recommend that you not do so.
 If all you want to do is empty the folder, run Internet Explorer
 4 and choose View, Internet Options. When the Internet Options
 dialog box opens, click the General tab. Now, click Clear
 History. This is the best and safest way to clear the contents
 of the History folder. 

So, what would happen if you did manage to delete the History
 folder? Windows would simply create a new one for you. Although
 you may not do any permanent damage deleting the folder, you
 have nothing to gain--that is, unless you simply
 enjoy deleting files.
