Explorer and Netscape: Synchronize Your Browser Favorites

Not only can you use this tip to update and share bookmarks/favorites between Internet Explorer and Netscape, you can also use it to export your NS bookmarks to IE and vice-versa. I suppose you could even use it to share them with your other computers or friends. That's right... three tips for the price of one!

To Export Internet Explorer Favorites

Go to the File menu and click Import/Export. The Wizard will help guide you through the process.

Choose "Export Favorites" and click Next.

Choose the folder you want to export, or click the top folder "Favorites" to send them all. Specify the destination for your favorites file. I suggest that you send it to your "My Documents" folder and call it "favorites.htm" to help distinguish it from your Netscape bookmarks file.

To Export Netscape Bookmarks

Open the Bookmarks menu and choose Manage Bookmarks. In your Bookmarks window, open the Tools menu, and choose Export.

In the "Export bookmark file" box, choose a destination folder for your "bookmarks.html" file to go. I suggest putting it in "My Documents". Click Save.

To Import Netscape Bookmarks in Explorer

Go to the File menu and click Import/Export. Choose "Import Favorites". If the Netscape "bookmark.html" file you just created is not in the box, you will need to browse for it (now you know why I told you to put it in "My Documents").

Next, you can choose where you want it to go. You can put it in a folder, or just dump it in Favorites and sort it all out later. Click Finish.

To Import Explorer Favorites in Netscape:

Open the Bookmarks menu and choose Manage Bookmarks. In your Bookmarks window, open the Tools menu and choose Import.

In the "Import bookmark file" box, locate and select the bookmark file you want to import (remember, we named it "favorites" and put it in "My Documents").

Click Open and it saves all the links in your Bookmark file. You can sort them out from there.

Now you have the power to synchronize your favorites and your bookmarks. Since you have a bookmark file created, you can even send it as an email attachment to friends or save it on a disk to install on another computer. Pretty cool huh!

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Mistakes Are A Drag!

Have you ever made a mistake while filling out a form on a web page or in a software program? If you're like me, you occasionally find that you've put information in the wrong box.

Most people would just sigh, delete out the error, then re-type it in the appropriate box.

And we wonder why carpal tunnel syndrome cases are on the rise.

Well, to save your wrists (and some time), highlight the text that's in the wrong location and drag it to its proper place (box).

BTW - This works with more than just forms. If you are re-doing a table in a word processing program, you can do the highlight, drag & drop thing too!

One last thing. Before I get an inbox full of e-mails reminding me of this - you can highlight any text in a word processor and drag it to a new location. Lots faster than copy & paste.

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Change Your Address Bar Search Engine

Guess what? You aren't stuck using MSN as your search engine when you search from the address bar or when you click "Search" to bring up the sidebar.

With Internet Explorer just click View / Explorer Bar / Search (or click the "Search" button in your Toolbar) to bring up the side panel. If you have a side bar with a little dog at the bottom, then click "Change Preferences" then "Change Internet Search Behavior" to bring up a list of search engine you can use.

Highlight the one you want then click OK .

This new default setting will only apply to searches done in the side bar. If you type a word into your address bar, it still goes to MSN. Before you go on with the next step, be really sure that you want to change the setting to "classic" because I have not found a way to change back to the newer style search sidebar.

To change where the address bar search looks, select the radio button marked "With Classic Internet Search" before clicking OK . Close Explorer and reopen it. You'll notice that the sidebar looks different now. Plain text on white like the earlier versions of IE. The menu bar has a button at the top marked "Customize". Clicking it will open the "Customize Search Settings" box. Next, choose the "Autosearch Settings" button to bring up a box where you can change the default engine for address bar searches.

Once you pick the one you want, close the sidebar.

Now when you type a word in the address bar, it will bring up the results on the page of your favorite search engine.

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Desktop Web Shortcuts

Do you have a web site you visit often? Wouldn't it be cool to have a shortcut on your desktop for it? Here's a quick way to do it:

First, head to the web page with either Explorer or Netscape.

~ With Internet Explorer:

You'll see next to the site's URL (address) a small icon with a blue "e" on it. Drag that to your desktop. Instant shortcut!

~ With Netscape:

Next to the URL (address) box, you'll see the word "location." Next to "location" there's a small icon. If you drag it onto your desktop, you'll make an instant shortcut to the page.

When you click on the shortcut(s), it will open your default browser and take you to the web site. Cool huh?

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Favorite Web Pages At Startup

If you're like me, you probably have several internet related tasks you do each time you start your computer.

Wouldn't it be great to have all the web pages you frequent, and maybe your e-mail program, run when you start the computer? You guessed it - you can.

All you need to do is drop some shortcuts into your Startup Folder . Here's how:

1. First, open Internet Explorer (this trick can be done with Netscape too, but it works better with Explorer) and head to a page you want to see when your computer starts.

2. Next, grab the little " e " next to the address and drag it over to the Start button. Don't let go, just hover over the button for a couple seconds. The Start menu should open.

The "e" you need to drag:

3. Now, (still holding the mouse button down), move up to the Programs menu. The Programs menu should open.

4. Finally, move your mouse to the Startup folder (it will be underlined). Again, point to it for a second and it should open up. Drop the shortcut into it and you're all set. Make sure you drop the shortcut into the Startup Menu and NOT into the Programs menu by accident.

Oh, you can use this for your e-mail program too. Let's say you're using Outlook Express. This time, drag the icon with your RIGHT mouse button and follow the procedure above. When you let go of the icon to drop it into the start menu, be sure to click " copy here " from the little menu that pops up.

If you were to left-click and drag it, it would remove the icon from its current location and move it to your Startup folder. Hence, the right-click drag.

That's it. Restart your computer and your browser should launch, opening all the stuff you just put into the Startup menu.

I want to mention that this works better for those with an "always on" type internet connection. When Windows starts, you're already online so you really get the benefit of this little trick.

If you have a regular dial-up connection, that works too - just not quite as well. Ideally, your dial up connection should be set to automatically dial, that way when you start the computer, it automatically dials and loads the pages for you.

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Internet Information Safety

Giving out your personal information to sites on the net is a touchy subject. My suggestion would be to only give out info to sites that you trust. If you don't trust a particular site, don't give out your info. I'm not too worried about giving out my info to most business sites, but I'm not going to give it to someone who just would like to have it in order to see where their visitors are coming from.

Note that most good, reputable sites will have some sort of privacy policy that tells you exactly how the information you give them will be used. If you're at all unsure, it may be worth reading the privacy policy for the site in question. If you can't find one, any paranoia you have regarding that site is probably justified.

Most sites that ask for your personal information are doing so because you're signing up for something or making some type of purchase. After all, how can you buy something online if you won't give out your address and credit card info? When this is the case, I carefully look through the site to make sure it looks OK (I check for stuff like contact info, addresses, etc.) before I give out my any of my information.

If a site is asking for a credit card number, they will only get it if I'm actually making a purchase. If it's for any other reason, forget it. If they are trying to get my social security number, they don't have a chance unless I see good reason for them to have it (applying for a loan, joining an affiliate program, etc.)

Oh, one more thing since we mentioned credit cards. I get a lot of people who are worried about sending their credit card info to a company via the internet. As long as the site is secure (you should see a little "lock" in the Status Bar of your browser - lower left hand corner), you should be safe.

Of course, you have to trust the company you're dealing with. If you give your card to a site that's shady (porn, illegal items, etc), then you shouldn't be too surprised if you run into problems.

On the other hand, if you're dealing with a good, legit site, then you shouldn't have any problems. However, remember, not all companies are the same - before you give any site your credit card info, be sure they have stuff like contact information, a privacy policy, and you may want to check their return policy, too (assuming it applies). Doesn't hurt to do a little homework.

For the most part, it seems like credit card theft on the internet is more likely the result of having a dishonest employee (and that's not just an internet problem), than the transmission getting intercepted. It just kills me when I see people who won't use their card online, but they don't hesitate to pass it to any scummy looking store clerk, never giving it a second thought. In my opinion, you're usually as safe, if not more so, online.

I guess the best advice is to be careful. If you don't have a good reason to give out your info, then don't. If you don't feel comfortable with a site or don't completely understand why they need your info, then don't give it out.

A good resource for more information is the Identity Theft Protector software.

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Search Engine Tricks

Having a hard time finding something online? Does it seem like you type in your search term but don't get anywhere near what you're looking for?

Well, here's a couple tricks that seem (almost) universal between search engines.

Let's say you're looking for sports cars and all you're getting is information on baseball and football (sports). What can you do? Try some of the following:

1. Try:

sports +cars

Most search engines will interpret this as meaning you only want results that have both the word "sports" and "cars" in them. Some search engines let you us the word "and" to do this as well (i.e. sports and cars).

2. You can also try to exclude terms. Let's say you still aren't getting what you want with sports cars (you still keep getting baseball info). Try something like:

sports +cars -baseball

The "-" sign tells most search engines to exclude results that have whatever word it is that has the "-" in front of it. (Don't put a space between the - and the word to be excluded though!)

3. If the above seems too confusing, most search engines have an "advanced search" option that gives you a web-style way to help you accomplish the same thing. Instead of using "+ / -" they use drop down boxes and option buttons. It is usually easier to search this way, although it's probably faster to use steps 1 & 2.

4. The next thing you might try is being more specific. Instead of just sports cars, maybe use exotic sports cars. Try different combinations of search terms until you get what you're after. (Careful with that word "exotic" though!)

5. Also, you may want to try using quotes. If you type in:

"sports cars"

You should only get results that match that exact phrase in that exact order. Sometimes that can narrow things down considerably.

6. If all else fails, try a different search engine.

Of course the hands-down favorite is Google

There are thousands of search engines out there and not all of them support the tips I have shown you today. If you're having trouble, look for a link for search tips, search help, advanced search, or how to search. Most search engines have lots of information on how to use them successfully.

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