A few hidden tricks and tips using IE 6.0
Zatni Arbi, Columnist, Jakarta
A great many of us use Google to search for things on the net -- reference materials, funeral services, old friends -- even guardian angels. However, there are other search sites that we can also use, and one of them is of course Microsoft MSN.
Now, what is the shortest way to tell MSN to find the documents containing the information that we require? It turns out that, if we are using Internet Explorer (IE), all we need to do is type in the words "go" or "find" (without the quotation marks) in the Address box, followed by the keyword. Or, we can also type in a question mark followed by the keyword.
So, suppose you want to find the latest news about the Blaster worm. We just type in "? Blaster" (without the quotation marks), and IE will directly access the MSN Search engine and display a list of Web sites that can help increase our understanding of the worm. Strangely, though, MSN flags a Microsoft Security site as the top pick, and if you go to this site you will not find any mention of Blaster. It would be a great site if what you wanted to know was how to activate the built-in firewall in Windows XP.
In fact, the first three Web sites listed by MSN are Microsoft's own sites and the one that was supposed to discuss this worm was not available when I tried to access it. Luckily the Web sites of Trend Micro and Symantec were listed as the "Web Directory Sites".
Last week, I wanted to find the lyrics for Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 2. All I remembered was the first four words of the lyrics, which were Ich harrette des Herrn. I typed in "? Ich harrete des Herrn", and MSN returned to me with around 55 Web sites containing these four German words. Incidentally, Google gave me a seven-page list of similar Web sites.
By the way, if you are not sure what the Address box is, it is the area on the top panel of IE where you normally type in, for example, www.thejakartapost.com.
* Put your favorite links on the bar
In my work and daily life, there are a number of Web sites that I routinely visit. One of them is, of course, www.klikbca.com. It is the shortest way for me to check whether my client has transferred his payment or whether I have to gently remind him to do so. Another important Web site is Google, for obvious reasons. Then I also visit a couple of online dictionaries and thesauruses to find help with my vocabulary.
One of the toolbars on the IE browser is actually the "Links" bar. It is a place where we can place the shortcut buttons for our favorite Web sites. If you do not see it on the screen, you may have to activate it. Just click with the right mouse button anywhere on IE's top panel -- for example, over the menu. If you see a check mark next to Lock the Toolbars option, click once to uncheck it. If the toolbars are locked, you cannot modify them.
Once the toolbars are unlocked, you click one more time on the menu bar and click "Links" on the menu list that appears. This will add the Links bar. Depending on your version of IE, when your IE is first installed, you may have a few buttons on the Links bar. If you want to get rid of these buttons, just click on them with the right mouse button and choose "Delete".
Now, how do you add the button for the BCA site, for example? The easiest way is perhaps to go to the Web site first and then drag and drop the icon from the Address box on to the Links bar.
Remember, too, that we can rename a button if it takes too much space on the Links bar because the label is too long. All we need to do is place the mouse cursor over the button, click the right mouse button and then click on "Rename". On my Links bar, for example, I have shortened the label "The Jakarta Post" to "TJP"
And if you would like to organize the buttons on the Links bar so that the important ones are placed on the left while the less important ones may be pushed to the drop down list on the right end. It is not difficult to rearrange the buttons, all it takes is a couple of drag and drops.
* More nifty tricks
Speaking of drag and drop, I have found a very useful feature in the mouse setting of Windows XP. If you activate ClickLock, it will enable you to drag an object without having to keep pressing the left mouse button. I once damaged a mouse because I did not control how much pressure I put on this button, and after a while my index finger can get a bit achy after too much clicking and holding. With ClickLock activated, you can drop the object with a second click after you are sure you have highlighted the right place for it. This is very handy if you, for instance, drag and drop a lot of e-mail messages to different folders in your Outlook or Outlook Express.
How do you go back to the previous Web page? Do you still grab the mouse and click on the "Back" button in IE? It turns out that you can also use the Alt-Left Arrow key combination to return to the earlier pages. To go forward after you have backed off, you can use the Alt-Right Arrow combination.
Incidentally, there is also good news for those of you who have an old scanner or printer and have not been able to buy a new and more sophisticated one because you do not know what to do with the old one. Until Sept. 8, you can bring your old device and trade it in for a new Canon scanner or printer, and you will get a discount of Rp 500,000 for your old stuff regardless of its condition. Check out Datascrip's advertisement to find out where you should go to trade in your old door stopper.
I have taken advantage of this program and traded in my old scanner for the new, 2400 x 4800 CanoScan 5000 F. I will let you know what I think of this scanner in an upcoming article.