Internet Explorer Walkthrough for PCs

1. Open Internet Explorer

You have two options for opening Explorer:

a) click on the Explorer icon on your desktop, or if there is no icon,

b) click and hold on "Start" on the Taskbar. Explorer will be listed under "Programs" or "Internet". Click on Internet Explorer.

Explorer will automatically open at the Home page. The title of the page will display at the top of the Explorer Window.

2. Going places: Hypertext Links and URLs

a) Hypertext links:

Move your mouse pointer over the page. If the arrow turns into a hand at a word or an image, you have found a hyperlink. Click on it once to retrieve the page connected to the link.

While the page is loading, notice that the at the top right of the page will animate.

The status bar at the bottom left of the Explorer window will show the progress of the page load.

b) URL or location:

Try going to at least one of the following sites by typing the URL in the address bar and hitting "Enter". (You don't have enter http://-- that part of the address will enter automatically. Note that there are no spaces in a URL. Also, URLs can be case sensitive.)

http://www.health.state.ny.us/ (New York State Department of Health)

http://www.urmc.rochester.edu/Miner/nnlm/ (Miner Library Electronic Circuit Librarian Program)

Subject Directories:

http://www.nnlm.nlm.nih.gov/partners/tools.html (Tools for Public Health Professionals)

http://www.healthfinder.gov/ (Healthfinder)

http://www.urmc.rochester.edu/Miner/Links/statistics.html (Statistical Information Links at Miner Library)

Search engine:

http://www.google.com/ (Google)

Databases:

http://igm.nlm.nih.gov/ (Internet Grateful Med)

Title Bar>
Menu Bar>
Tool Bar>
Address bar>

3. The Tool Bar:

The Tool Bar will help you navigate. Try clicking on Back, Forward, Home, and Search.

Back will take you to the previous page. The to the right of Back will show the last nine sites you visited. Click on a site's name to return to it.

Forward will return you to your last selection if you just clicked Back.

Stop will stop the process of loading a page. If a page is taking too long to load, click Stop and try another address.

Refresh will clear the current page, and retrieve the latest version of the page. Use this if a page or picture doesn't load properly, or if a "Transfer Interrupted!" message appears, or if your computer has stored an older version of the page in a cache, and you want to get the latest version of the page.

Home will take you to the Home Page.

Search will take you to the Microsoft Search Engine page.

Favorites will store links to your favorite Web sites. We'll cover this in more detail in Step 4.

History will display a list of the Web sites you've recently visited. We'll cover this in more detail in Step 5.

Print will print the page (if a printer is available).

4. Favorites

a) Adding Favorites

When you find a page that you'd like to return to in the future, click on the Favorites icon. The Favorites bar will open on the left side of the window.

Click on Add, and the address of the page you are viewing will be added to the end of your Favorites list.

Whenever you want to return to this page in future Web sessions, click on Favorites, select the page, and click on it to access the page.

Add Favorites for three pages, so that you can organize them.

b) Organizing Favorites

Click on Organize, and the Organize Favorites window will appear.

i) Select a favorite, click on it and hold while dragging it to a different position in the list.

ii) Click on Create Folder, and a new folder will appear at the bottom of the list. Type a new name for the folder and hit enter. Click on a favorite that you added, hold and drag it into your new folder. Double-click on the folder to be sure the favorite is there.

iii) To delete a favorite, click on it, and hit the Delete key.

iv) Click on Close when you are finished organizing your favorites. Click on the Favorites button on the toolbar to close the Favorites bar.

5. History

When you click on History, the History bar will appear to the left side of the window.

Click on Today, and folders for Web sites you have visited will appear. Click on a Web site folder to display individual pages, and then click the page icon to display the Web page in the Explorer browser window.

Close the History bar by clicking the History button on the toolbar.

6. The Menu Bar

a) Printing pages (if a printer is available)

i) Under File, check Print Preview to see how many pages are available to print, and what they will look like (available only on Explorer 5.5).

ii) Under File, click Print to print the page. Or you can click on Print on the toolbar.

b) Saving Pages & Images

i) Saving a page: Under File, click on Save As to save a page. A Save As window will appear. Choose whether to save the page in HTML or as plain text under Save as type. Choose a folder on your computer to save it in. Open the saved page.

ii) Saving an image: put the cursor on an image you'd like to save. Hit the RIGHT click, and a menu will appear. Choose Save Image as from the menu. When the Save as window appears, choose a folder on your computer to save it in.

c) Customizing your browser

i) Choosing your homepage

Go to the page you'd like to use as your homepage. Under Tools on the menu bar, click on Internet Options. The Internet Options window will appear.

Click Use Current Page or type the page's URL in the Address box. Click OK. To check the new page is now your homepage, click on Home on the toolbar, and your new homepage should load.

ii) Changing the size of text

Under View, click on Text Size, then choose a different size of text.

d) Help

Click on Help to find out about more things you can do with Explorer.

Congratulations! You've completed the walk-through and have the skills you need to browse the World Wide Web.

C. DeGolyer
E. G. Miner Library
University of Rochester Medical Center
7/2000