Personal Computer Fundamentals
Browsing the Internet
In this lesson, you will learn:
There are several different types of programs on a computer that do different things. Some are Word Processors that are used to create letters, envelopes and labels, some are for spreadsheets, some are for databases and some are for viewing and modifying photos and images, etc.,etc.
The program used to view pages on the Internet is called a Browser. There are several different Browsers to choose from; Netscape Navigator, Opera, Internet Explorer, Safari and Firefox are all good choices. For viewing basic web pages it makes no difference which one you use . However, as the web pages are more complex the Browsers become more important. Some view pages differently, some work better with some features turned off, some show colors slightly differently etc.
For this class we will use Internet Explorer version 6.
For this class we will use Internet Explorer version 6.
Internet Explorer is a web browser that communicates across the internet network to other computers on the internet. Usually there is a shortcut already on the desktop and double clicking on it will launch Internet Explorer. If there is no shortcut on the desktop, you can have Windows place one there for you.
To have Windows set up a shortcut for you:
Double click the Internet Explorer Icon (Little Picture) on the Desktop, or go to Start > All Programs > Internet Explorer. As you will see, navigation on the Internet is easy. You just need a good starting place, and that is why a good Home Page is important. The home page is the first screen to show when you open the browser. For now, the home page can be somewhere that has the latest news, a search page, links to check e-mail or other features that make it easy to select what you want to look at. I suggest www.yahoo.com as a good home page. Type www.yahoo.com in the address bar window and hit 'Enter'. The home page can be changed and that will be covered in another lesson.
Here is a picture of Internet Explorer with Yahoo loaded as the start page. When your mouse is placed over a blue underlined word, it changes to a hand with a finger pointing to it. That means that the text is a Hyperlink that will take you to another page.
There is a row of words 'File', 'Edit', 'View', 'Favorites', 'Tools' and 'Help. This is called the Menu Bar. Open each one by clicking on it and become familiar with each item one by one. Take time, as you will see this same menu many more times to come.
On the File menu, notice that ‘Work Offline’ has no check mark. If your browser stops working, simply click once to select it, and select it again to turn it off. For working on the Internet there should be no check mark here.
NOTE: If you ever get a message asking you to connect because the Web page is not available off line, click the connect button to reconnect. This is where you change the setting.
Below the Menu bar is the Tool bar and some of the navigation buttons. Press some of the toolbar buttons in the Browser now and become very familiar with what they do. They are explained below, but try them out first.
The ‘Back’ button is used when you want to return to the page you were on.
The ‘Forward’ button is for navigating forward again without re-clicking on the link. This is a faster way to return to the page you were on.
‘Stop’is for when you click on a link, but you realize it is the wrong one. ‘Stop’ will halt the Browser.
‘Refresh’ will reload the last page you were on. Sometimes when the Browser seems to stop and the page won’t load, using ‘Refresh’ will speed things up.
‘Home’will return to the starting page, referred to as the Home Page.
‘Search’ will be covered more in detail later.
'Favorites' are for saving pages you like or need to return to later. When you have a site you want to return to quickly, simply click the ‘Favorites’ button.‘Favorites’is used when you are likely to visit a site often. Folders can be created inside the Favorites menus to organize your favorite sites by category.
‘History’ is used to remember all of the sites that were visited during the last day, weeks or month. It is used mainly for finding sites visited in the past that weren’t placed in Favorites and the original link is hard to get to. It is also used for parental controls to track usage etc.
‘Media’ is used for organizing Music, Video and TV / Radio Station Links. Internet Radio, TV, Music and Video can greatly slow down your connection to the Internet. If your computer is on a network, at work or school, Internet Media uses up a lot of Internet connection 'bandwidth' resources and causes the other Internet Connections to run very slowly, and slows down the machine they are playing on. If your internet connection seems slow, turn off Internet movies, sound and other streaming media. You probably should use a CD instead.
‘Edit’ is beyond the level of this lesson and will be covered at a different level.
Some buttons are called Toggles, meaning they act like a Toggle Switch to turn the feature on and off. Sometimes when the Web Browser starts, the search window is open and it gets in the way. Use the ‘Search’ Button to turn it back off. Most of the other buttons are also toggles.
‘Print’ is used for Internet Printing. Click on the View Menu and select Source and you will see what is printed can be very different than what you intended to print. ‘Print’ will print all of the page, including all of the parts you can’t see, and the icons, frames and bars. The part you wanted to print as text or picture will be off center or cut off!
As a general rule, to print from the Internet, it is best to highlight the area you want to keep, select Edit > Copy and then paste it into a Word Processing program and print it from there.
NOTE: Internet Printing is not allowed in the computer lab. It wastes paper because most of the Web pages are HUGE and there is no way of stopping the print job once it has begun. It stops the printer for up to half an hour!!
Search Engines are names for sites that allow you to search topics, and comb through the millions of pages on the Internet to give youa best probable guess at what it is you are looking for. The Search Site thatyou choose is up to you and there are several that are good. Yahoo!!, Google, Lycos, Alta-Vista, Excite and Go To are a few.
Online encyclopedias like Encarta and World Book, as well as sites like National Geographic, NASA or the weather radar are some favorites. There are sites like ‘Ask Jeeves’ and ‘What Is’, where you type in the name or question and up pops the answer. If Yahoo is your home page, Internet searches are especially easy from there. Simply type the keyword in the search box
Pressing the Search Button on the Browser Tool bar can have some undesired affects. First, it opens a side window and reduces the work area. Second, the actual search is very different. Each Search Engine finds different sites for the same search, and the Search Engine being used is not always obvious. To find out which one your browser is using or to change the search engine, click on the Search button and then the customize button in the search window. Once you find a good search site, you can set the site to work with the touch of a button. However, the results can be frustrating when they are different than what is expected. Using the biggest or most popular Search Engines are an adventage in this case.
All Browsers in general use for the internet have settings that can be changed to customize the browser for your use. Different Browsers have different ways of getting to the settings. The settings are usually in "Options" or "Preferences" inside either the Edit or Tools menus. In IExplorer, on the Tools menu, select "Internet Options". There are several tabs: General, Security, Privacy, Content, Connection, Programs and Advanced. Careful examination of each tab shows setting changes that can be made to the Internet Browser.
Note that in some cases the wrong setting can render your Internet unusable or even compromise the computer system. Most of these are used by advanced users and technicians. It is best not to make changes here unless you know what you are doing. Write down any changes you make so that they can be un-done.
There are some simple things that you can do to keep your personal information safe from intruders. Browsers have security settings that can be modified to screen out certain site information, like cookies, scripts and bad certificates that can cause computer problems. Most of these settings are set automatically and there is never a need to change them. If you do, there may be undesired side effects, like constant messages that pop up informing you about what is going to happen, or the page won’t load at all, etc. These are some settings that can make a big difference and make things easier for you, or not.
Auto fill 'remembers' how you fill in forms so that whenever you type in a form, password or address in a box it will offer to fill it in automatically based on how you filled it in last time. When it is first turned on you will get a pop up box asking you if you want windows to remember your passwords etc. If you select ‘Yes’, Auto Fill is then turned on. To turn it off, you have to go to this tab.
You can tell if Auto Fill is turned on because when you start to type something in a box, a list of previously typed words pops up, and you can select one with the mouse. The same is true for forms and passwords. This is ok if you are the only one using the computer at home. However, if you are doing work on a business computer and have Auto Fill turned on, someone only has to start typing and a pop-up lists where you have been, including suggested numbers (like bank accounts) and passwords! This is probably NOT what you want, so simply turn it off.
The general rule is, if you are the only one using the computer, Auto Fill can be a real time saver. If you share the computer, Auto Fill can be a security nightmare, compromising ANYTHING typed in as pure text, so anyone can read it.
To turn Auto Fill on and off, select Tools > Internet Options and select the 'Content' Tab. Select the 'Auto Complete' button and make your selections.
The easiest way to protect yourself and your files is with passwords. If you forget the password, there is usually no way of recovering the information that was password protected. If you are the only person using the computer, there probably is no need to protect the files with passwords. On the Internet, several things can be protected, including some settings and forms. Sites that require passwords usually require some personal information and security questions (Like "Who is your mother?") to verify the it is you. Sites that require you to register do not necessarily need password protection, as these sites are generally doing surveys of who is using the site and how many hits, etc.
Passwords can be automatically ‘remembered’ using the same method as Auto Fill. Keep in mind that anyone sitting at your computer can access your forms by simply clicking on it. The password will be filled in automatically. This can be ok, or it can be a serious security problem. Who do you want into your bank account?
It is the HABIT of being loose that is dangerous. It only takes one mistake of filling a password box, forgetting that Auto Complete is turned on (NO, you will NOT get a warning because it only warns when it is FIRST turned on!) and filling out the form as you always have. So if you are in a hurry or don't care...
So how do you know that your connection is safe? How is E-Commerce able to send money and personal information on formsback and forth in a safe way?
By using secure sites. You can tell that a site is secure if the site address begins with https://. The 's' at the end of the http: means that the site uses a special protocol that creates a dedicated connection between the two computers and only those two computers communicate the packets back and forth. It is a private conversation and no other computers can talk to them. At the lower part of the screen you will see a lock that is CLOSED.
Before sending sensitive information across the Internet, usually there will be a message indicating that you are being redirected to a secure site, and when leaving, the message will inform you that you are being re-directed to an un-secure site and ask what you want to do. When leaving the secure site, the lock at the lower part of the screen will be OPEN.
CONSIDER THE MESSAGE CAREFULLY BEFORE ANSWERING.
Phishing is the process of creating an unsecure web page that looks and acts EXACTLY like the original secure page and placing it on the web in such a way that it becomes the main form being filled out. The information is then sent back to the creator of the site, rather than the legitimate site the customer (you) intended.
E-mails are notorious for having Phishing page links from reputible businesses. The easiest way to tell a fake is to hold your mouse over the link and look at the address that it will go to, which will show up in a pop up box. Practice holding your mouse over links and wait for the box, which will show the address. If the email is from "Paypal" or "Ebay" but the link goes to some place in Russia or.....
The original business has an interest in tracking the emails that spoof their site. Usually the mail can be forwarded to spoof@ and whatever the business name is. For Paypal and Ebay, forward the mail to spoof@paypal.com or spoof@ebay.com because it is important for them to know WHERE these mails are coming from (offshore) and WHO is creating them (profiles of white collar crime).
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