What is a browser?

A browser is an Internet application, which enables people to access information (or WebPages such as this one) when connected to the Internet. Examples of which are Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator. If you followed the links correctly to get here, you are likely using Microsoft Internet Explorer 4 as your web browser to read this.

What web browsers are available?

What browser am I using?

If you have followed the links to get here, than you are using Microsoft Internet Explorer 4 as your browser.

Which is the better browser Microsoft, or Netscape?

Can I use more than one kind of Browser?

Definitely. Simply Internet offers technical support for the latest versions of both Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape Communicator. There is no reason why both browsers cannot happily coexist on your computer.

How do I get to / find Web Sites?

Websites do not automatically show up on your computer, you must tell your computer what WebPages you want it to retrieve for you. This can be done in a few different ways.

First of all, if you know what WebPage you want to see, you can type in the address directly in the "address bar" towards the top of your browser window. For example, if you know that you want to get back to the Simply Internet Webpage, you could type in http://www.simplyweb.net and it would retrieve that page for you.

If you are looking to search for some WebPages that you think you would like to see, you can click on the "search" button in the toolbar. It will take you to a WebPage which lets you enter information which it will search for on the World Wide Web and bring you back a list of WebPages that meet your search criteria. If you are using Internet Explorer, you can do this automatically by typing "go ____" in the address bar of Internet explorer. For example typing in "go classical music" takes you to the Microsoft search page and automatically searches for pages to do with classical music for you. Entering a Website into the &quotFavorites" folder for quick access. If you frequently wish to visit a Website you can enter it into whats called Favorites which allows you to click on an item in your favorites folder and be taken there without typing in the whole address. This can be done by going to the desired website (see "How do I get to / find Web Sites?") and clicking on the favorites pull-down menu at the top of Internet explorer and selecting add to favorites. It will now appear in the listing of your favorite Websites, and clicking on it while at any other website will bring you back to that same screen.

Common Error Messages with Websites and what they mean.

Sometimes websites are not available for a variety of reasons. Some error messages which are commonly found when browsing the Internet include "error 404" which means that the website is gone. It could be down for maintenance, or the server which is hosting that website is down due to technical difficulties, or that that page has been removed for some other reason. Another common error is &quottoo busy" which means just that. The server that is hosting that website is operating at its capacity and cannot fulfill your requested page. The solution is to try again later. Note this is not a problem with Simply Internet, but is a problem at the end where that page is coming from, and trying back later might work.

Customizing Internet Explorer 4.0 For Advanced Users.

When you are using Internet Explorer for Windows 3.1, you may experience either or both of the following symptoms: All settings appear empty. Settings for connections are not saved when you change them.

CAUSE

These symptoms can occur for either of the following reasons:

• The Internet Explorer folder is not on the path.
• The environment variables for Internet Explorer are not being loaded     correctly.

RESOLUTION

When Internet Explorer is installed, the following entries are placed at the end of the Autoexec.bat file

Path = %PATH%;C:\ [Install Path]
SET IEPPP = C:\[Install Path]
SET PCTCP = C:\[Install Path]\PCTCP.SHV
where [Install Path] is the Internet Explorer folder.

These lines must be run before Windows starts. If these lines are placed after the "Win" or "Win.com" line in the Autoexec.bat file, they are not run before Windows starts. To correct this problem, use any text editor (such as Notepad) to open the Autoexec.bat file, and move these lines to the beginning of the Autoexec.bat file; then, restart your computer.

To search the Internet:

Click the Globe  button on the toolbar. In the Explorer bar that appears, type the word or phrase you're looking for, and then click Search.In the list of search results, click a link to display the Web page in the right side of the browser window.

Note:  You can hide the Explorer bar by clicking the Globe button on the toolbar again. For more information on Internet Explorer, please go to

1. In Control Panel, double-click the Add/Remove Programs icon.
2. Click Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0, and then click Add/Remove.
3. To remove it, click "Remove the Windows Desktop Update component but keep the Internet Explorer 4.0 Web browser."

To add it, click "Add the Windows Desktop Update component from Web site," and then follow the instructions on the screen.

NOTE: For this release, clicking "Add the Windows Desktop Update component from Web Site" opens the Internet Explorer 4.0 components download page so you can download and install the Windows Desktop Update. If you have previously downloaded or installed the Windows Desktop Update, you can enable it without connecting to the Internet by running IE4setup.exe from your local Internet Explorer 4.0 Setup folder. When prompted, click Yes to enable the Windows Desktop Update, and then choose to upgrade only newer items.

To keep track of your favorite pages, you can organize them into folders. Click the Create In button in the Add to Favorites dialog box.

To save the current page on your computer:

On the File menu, click Save As. Double-click the folder you want to save the page in. In the File Name box, type a name for the page, and then click Save.

Note: Internet Explorer saves only the text on a page, not the graphics.

To save a page or picture without opening it:
Right-click the link for the item you want.
Click Save Target As.
In the File Name box, type a name for the item, and then click Save.

Notes:  Internet Explorer saves a copy of the page or picture rather than a shortcut to it. You can use this method to download a copy of an item without opening it. To save a copy of the link instead, just drag the link to the location you want, such as your desktop. A shortcut to the Web page will appear.

To use an image from a Web page as desktop wallpaper:
Right-click the image on the Web page, and then click Set As Wallpaper.

Some Web pages may have ActiveX controls that don't support Mac OS. If this happens and you are unable to view the page you can turn off viewing of ActiveX content.

To do so, choose Preferences from the Edit menu, click Web Content under Web Browser, and then clear the Enable ActiveX check box. Note: Please be aware that in this release, Internet Explorer cannot verify the integrity of ActiveX controls. Download and use ActiveX controls from trusted servers only.

Simply select File/Work Offline from the IE 4.0 main menu. Your online connection disconnects, and you're able to read files directly from your  hard drive. If a page isn't stored in your cache, you see a small "not" sign next to the cursor. If you click a link that connects to a page you don't have on your drive, you get the options of either going online to retrieve the page or remaining offline. The Work  Offline feature is designed to function best in conjunction with subscriptions.

You can find information on the Web in a variety of ways. When you click the Search button on the toolbar, an Explorer bar appears at the left of the window. It bar provides access to a number of search services that offer different kinds of searching capabilities. Try out the different search services to see what kinds of information they provide.

If you want to find information without even using a search service, you can use the Autosearch feature by typing go, find, or ? and a word or phrase right in the Address bar. Internet Explorer immediately starts a search using its predetermined search service.

To search the Internet from the Address bar:

In the Address bar, type go, find, or ? followed by a space and the word or phrase you want to find. In the list of search results, click a link to display the Web page.

Note:  This Autosearch feature uses only one search service to find information.

To search for text on the current Web page:

On the Edit menu, click Find (on this page). Type the text you want to find. Change any settings as needed. Click Find Next.

For more information on Internet Explorer, please go to

How to Set Your Own Subscription Schedule with Internet Explorer 4

If you want to change a subscription's update schedule, right-click it in the Favorites menu or Favorites Bar, and select Properties from the pop-up menu. In the Properties dialog box, click the Schedule tab. Select the "Custom schedule (LAN and modem)" opion; then click the  Edit button to bring up the Custom Schedule dialog box. Here you can designate a daily, weekly, or monthly schedule for updating, changing the  update time, or forcing the subscription to update several times in a designated time frame.

For more information on Internet Explorer, please go to

How Do I Subscribe to a Web Site?

To subscribe to a Web site:

• Open the Web page you want to subscribe to.
• Click the Favorites menu.
• If the Web site appears on your list, click Subscriptions, and then     click Subscribe.
• If the Web site does not appear on the Favorites menu, click Add to     Favorites. Select the Subscribe check box, and then click OK.
• Click Customize to use the Subscribe wizard to specify your schedule, delivery, and notification options.

Notes:  Subscribing to a Web site enables you to automatically get updated information from the site on a scheduled basis, without having to visit the site and refresh the content manually.

Subscribing to a site does not require paying fees to the site.

To change the settings for subscriptions:

On the Favorites menu, point to Subscriptions, and then click Manage Subscriptions.Right-click the subscription you want to update, and then click Properties. Specify the settings you want for receiving and scheduling the subscription.

To view a Web site that you have subscribed to:

On the Favorites menu, point to Subscriptions, and then click Manage Subscriptions. Click the Web page you want to view.

For more information on Internet Explorer, please go to