Internet Explorer Tips and Tricks
Surf Fast
Few cyberlife experiences are more annoying than a slow-loading Web page. That's
why we've rounded up a few performance tweaks and browsing tricks to get the
fastest possible performance out of your browser. If you're working on a
14.4-kbps modem, however, we have one word for you: upgrade.
Disable Animated GIFs
Animated gifs may make your browsing experience seem more like TV, but they can
also bring your browser to a virtual standstill. So, if you're sick of constant
distractions and slow downloads, stop them from loading altogether. Head to
Tools/Internet Options and click the Advanced tab. Scroll down to the Multimedia
section, deselect the Play Animations option, and click OK. From now on, you'll
see only the first frame of each animated GIF that loads.
Cut Down on Multimedia
Likewise, do away with bandwidth-eating streaming video and audio. Select
Internet Options from the Tools menu and click the Advanced tab. Scroll down to
the Multimedia segment and uncheck the boxes in front of Play Animations, Play
Sounds, Play Video, and Show Pictures. To restore these settings, just recheck
the boxes. To turn off Java, select Internet Options and the Security tab, then
click the Custom Level button. Check the Disable box to turn off ActiveX
Controls and Java applets, or check Prompt to have IE warn you when an applet
tries to load.
Use a Blank Home Page
Every time you boot up IE, the browser takes you straight to whatever home page
you set. But it takes time to load any Web page--time you might not want to
waste. So, eliminate a home page altogether and start up on a blank page. Here's
how: Pull down the Tools menu and choose Internet Options, then click the
General tab. In the Home Page area, click the Use Blank button, et voilą,
no more home page.
Increase Your Cache
If you often revisit one site several times per surfing session, this tip will
save you lots of time. When you visit Web pages, your browser stores HTML code
and graphics from those sites in a folder called a cache. The cache helps
you get files fast when you hit the Back button because they're coming from your
hard disk, not over your Net connection. For best surfing speeds, we recommend
you allocate at least 10MB of your drive to the browser. From the Tools menu,
select Internet Options and choose the General tab. In the Temporary Internet
Files section, click Settings. Under "Amount of disk space to use,"
drag the slider to the right; you should choose about 5 percent of your hard
disk.
Stop Long Downloads
This tip may be obvious, but it's also highly effective. If you're waiting for a
page to load and it's taking forever, push the Stop button. Then hit Refresh to
start over. Sometimes the path the page takes to get to your PC contains Net
burps that slow it down, and refreshing will send it back to you via a new,
clear route.
Navigate With Just One Word
Don't bother typing entire domain names (for example, www.cnet.com) into
your browser. Instead, simply type the site's name (cnet) in the Address
bar and press Ctrl-Enter to automatically add http://www and .com on each side
of the word--a real time-saver.