IE provides intermittent pages, but fails on many others. Operating Systems Affected Windows XP Professional and Home Editions are affected. Cause If you are using the Internet and some pages load while others do not, or if the wait time seems very long, the problem is traffic or the connection to the Internet—not IE directly. The Pain Killer To solve the problem, try disconnecting from the Internet and connecting again. If this does not work, wait awhile before using the Internet again. If this happens often, you should check with your Internet service provider (ISP) for assistance. How does IE find Web sites? Humans are language-based creatures. However, computers communicate using numbers. In order to make the Internet easier, you simply have to type a Web address (such as http://www.osborne.com) to access a Web site. However, your computer must have a numeric address to find the Web site. In order to find the correct number, a system called Domain Name System (DNS) is used on the Internet. Computers query DNS servers in order to resolve domain names (such as Osborne.com) to a TCP/IP address (such as 131.107.2.200). Once your computer has the IP address, it can locate the Osborne.com servers, who can then respond to your request to see the Web page. Of course, all of this happens in the background without any help from you—which makes it really nice! Tip You can learn more about Internet connections and ISPs in Chapter 9. I have two Internet connections, but IE automatically dials the one I do not want to use. Operating Systems Affected Windows XP Professional and Home Editions are affected. Cause If you have more than one Internet connection, Windows XP assigns a default to one of them. Then, programs like IE will always use the default connection. In order to stop this behavior, you must change the default connection. The Pain Killer To change the default connection, you will need to access Network Connections and change the default. See Chapter 9 for step-by-step instructions. IE does not automatically dial my Internet connection, or I do not want IE to dial a connection. Operating Systems Affected Windows XP Professional and Home Editions are affected. Cause By default, IE will try to dial your default connection when you open IE, if a connection to the Internet does not currently exist. You can change this behavior, however, as needed. The Pain Killer To change the dialing behavior of IE, follow these steps: 1. Click Start | Control Panel | Internet Options. N ote The following steps assume you are using the Classic view of Control Panel which shows you all the icon options. If you are not sure if you are using the Classic view of Control Panel, click Start | Control Panel. In the left window p ane, click the Switch to Classic View option. Tip You can also access Internet Options from within IE by clicking the Tools menu and clicking Internet Options. 3. Click the Connections tab. 4. As you can see in the following illustration, you have three radio button options that allows IE to Never Dial a Connection, Dial Whenever a Network Connection Is Not Present, or Always Dial My Default Connection. Choose a setting that you want and click OK. Prevention When you are solving connection problems, it is always important to keep in mind that IE can only connect based on the Internet connection’s configuration. I n other words, the Internet connection manages the connection to the Internet and IE uses that connection—IE does not directly affect the connection’s configuration. If you are having a number of different connection problems, always remember that the problem will be the connection, not software using the connection (such as IE), and the resolution lies with connection properties or even your ISP—not IE. See Chapter 9 to learn more about solving problems with Internet connections. IE dials a connection, even when I have a different connection established or when using a broadband connection. Operating Systems Affected Windows XP Professional and Home Editions are affected. Cause IE is set to Always Dial My Default Connection. Let’s say you have two connections—connection1 and connection2. Connection1 is the default, but you are currently connected with connection2. If you open IE, IE will see that connection1 is not connected and try to connect, even if you already have connection2 available (I know, the explanation here is enough to give you a headache!). The point is, IE only cares about the default connection, and if it is not connected, IE will attempt to make the connection. The Pain Killer Access the Connections tab again (see the previous Headache for steps) and click the Dial Whenever a Network Connection Is Not Present option so that the Always Dial My Default Connection option is not selected. Now, when you open IE, it will use any connection currently open. If no connection is open, only then will it dial the default connection. I cannot configure IE to connect through a proxy server or broadband hardware. Operating Systems Affected Windows XP Professional and Home Editions are affected. Cause Besides using an Internet connection, you may access the Internet when you are on a local network, or you may even have an Internet connection that uses a network adapter card. For example, I have an Internet satellite connection that uses a network adapter card in my computer. I have to have IE configured to use that kind of connection instead of a modem connection. In corporate networks, users often connect through a proxy server, which is a computer that manages Internet connections. When you need something from the Internet, your computer connects to the proxy server, who then gets what you need from the Internet for you. Proxy servers are security features that are used often in corporate networks. In order to get IE to work with these kinds of connections, IE has to be configured correctly. The Pain Killer The actual configuration for local network or broadband hardware connection varies, so you’ll need to follow the exact setup instructions provided by your broadband company or your network administrator. Regardless, you will configure IE to connect this way on the Connections tab. If you click the Settings button, you see a page that gives you the option to connect using a proxy server or configuration script, as you can see in Figure 10-2 . Again, your network administrator will need to help you configure these settings. Figure 10-2: Proxy settings On the Connections tab, you also see that you have a LAN Settings button. LAN stands for local area network, and if you are using a DSL or satellite connection (or even cable), you will probably need to configure settings here, as shown in Figure 10-3. Again, you’ll need to check with the ISP for specific instructions. Figure 10-3: LAN settings Prevention D o not enable any of these settings unless you have instructions to do so. E nabling these settings when they are not needed will probably stop IE from connecting to the Internet. Solving IE Configuration Problems Internet Explorer is configured automatically with a number of preset options— most of which you will find useful. However, you will probably run into settings that are a real pain. The good news is that you can change just about anything that you want—if you know how. In this section, I’ll explore some common Headaches you are most likely to experience. I don’t like the setup of the IE toolbar. Operating Systems Affected Windows XP Professional and Home Editions are affected. Cause IE has a default toolbar configuration with default bars and buttons. However, IE works just like any folder in Windows XP, and you can change the way to the toolbars look easily and quickly. The Pain Killer To change the IE toolbar, use the View menu to make specific changes or customize the options. You can learn more about configuring toolbars in Chapter 2. I want IE to use a different default home page. Operating Systems Affected Windows XP Professional and Home Editions are affected. Cause When you first open IE, a default Web site opens, which may be MSN—or it may be the site of your computer manufacturer, such as Dell, Gateway, HP, and so forth. You can easily change this aggravating behavior so that the Web site you want opens first. The Pain Killer To change the default Web site, follow these steps: 1. Click Start | Control Panel | Internet Options. 2. Click the General tab. 3. On the General tab, shown in the following illustration, you can type the address of the Web site you want to see each time IE opens, then click OK. If you are currently at that Web site, just click the Use Current button. If you don’t want to see a default Web site at all, click Use Blank. I want IE to keep more temporary Internet files, or I want IE to not use temporary Internet files. Operating Systems Affected Windows XP Professional and Home Editions are affected. Cause Internet Explorer saves Web pages that you visit in a temporary files folder. This helps speed up your Web surfing because you can reuse those pages when you visit the site again (if the pages have not changed) instead of downloading new copies each time. You can increase the disk space allowed for temporary Internet files, or you can stop IE from using temporary Internet files altogether if you like. For most users, however, the default settings are good, so don’t change them unless you have a specific reason for doing so. The Pain Killer To change the temporary Internet files settings, follow these steps: 1. Click Start | Control Panel | Internet Options. 2. Click the General tab. Under Temporary Internet Files, click the Settings button. 3. In the Settings window, shown in the following illustration, you can choose to never use temporary Internet files if you like—or if you want to continue using them with more room to grow, simply use the slider bar to increase the amount of disk space that can be used. Be careful not to increase this setting too much, however, because you will eat up a lot of disk space that can be used for other purposes. When you are done, click OK. I don’t like the fonts/colors used to display Web pages. Operating Systems Affected Windows XP Professional and Home Editions are affected. Cause Internet Explorer uses default settings for fonts and colors used to show Web pages to you. However, you can change those defaults to settings that you like. The Pain Killer To change the colors and fonts, follow these steps: 1. Click Start | Control Panel | Internet Options. 2. Click the General tab. At the bottom of the General tab, click the Colors or Fonts buttons to change the default options to something you like. You can also click the Accessibility button to try settings that might make Web pages easier for you to see. I want IE to keep History entries for a longer/shorter period of time. Operating Systems Affected Windows XP Professional and Home Editions are affected. Cause Internet Explorer keeps a history of the Web sites that are accessed for 20 days, by default. This feature is helpful so that you can go back and find Web pages you want to revisit (or to see what your children are doing on the Internet). Depending on your needs, you can easily increase/decrease the 20-day default setting. The Pain Killer To increase/decrease the history time, follow these steps: 1. Click Start | Control Panel | Internet Options. 2. Click the General tab. In the History section, change the configuration box to the number of days that you want. If you do not want to keep a history at all, choose 0 and click OK. I want to stop pornographic or violent content from being displayed in IE. Operating Systems Affected Windows XP Professional and Home Editions are affected. Cause Unfortunately, the Internet is full of pornographic, violent, racist, and other hate content that you may not want displayed on IE. I have two kids myself, so I know how important this can be. My daughter loves to play at Barbie.com, but I don’t want her accidentally jumping from this safe and fun site to something she doesn’t need to see. Unfortunately, nothing is foolproof and I always suggest that you use the Internet with kids in much the same way as you would a public amusement park—you hold their hands and you watch everything. Let me reiterate this soap box one more time—leaving children unattended with the Internet is like leaving them unattended to play in the street—something bad will happen eventually. You can configure some content settings on IE that enable you to block objectionable material, if the Web site has identified itself as such. If the site has not identified itself as such, IE has no way of knowing what it is downloading. There are some additional security applications that you can purchase that can further help control objectionable material. Some examples are NetKeys Internet Security and Norton Internet Security, Family Edition. Also, specific blocking products work well, such as Net Nanny (http://www.netnanny.com), Safe Surf (http://www.safesurf.com), and Cyber Sitter (http://www.cybersitter.com). You can find these products and more at your favorite computer store, but again, they are not foolproof. In the meantime, you can turn on IE’s content option, which will provide you at least some protection. The Pain Killer To use IE’s content feature, follow these steps: 1. Click Start | Control Panel | Internet Options. 2. Click the Content tab, and then click the Enable button under Content Advisor. 3. On the Ratings tab, shown in the illustration, click through each category and set the slider bar to the level that you want. The first level is None, followed by other levels that allow the content to a degree. Choose the levels you want to enforce for each category. 4. Click the Approved Sites tab. You can choose override settings on the Ratings page by entering the address of any sites that are allowed or not allowed at all. Simply enter the address and click the appropriate button, as shown in the following illustration. Allowed sites appear with a green check mark, while blocked sites appear with a red minus sign. 5. Click the General tab. You have two important settings at the top of the page, shown in the following illustration. First, if you want users to be able to see sites that have no rating, click the check box option—but if not, keep it unchecked. Users will not be able to view any and all unrated Web sites (no matter if it has objectionable content). Again, this may not be foolproof, so don’t put all of your trust in this setting. Secondly, you definitely want to use the option to Create a Supervisor Password so that no one else can override your settings. Click the button option to create one. Click OK when you are done. Tip I f you are interested, you can also learn more about ratings bureaus and organizations with the information on the General and Advanced tabs of the Content Advisor. IE keeps trying to complete Web addresses and forms for me. Operating Systems Affected Windows XP Professional and Home Editions are affected. Cause IE has an AutoComplete feature that remembers Web addresses and data you have entered on Web forms so that IE can try to help you complete the information. This feature is liked by some and hated by others, but if you don’t want to use the feature, you can modify it or turn it off. The Pain Killer To change AutoComplete, follow these steps: 1. Click Start | Control Panel | Internet Options. 2. Click the Content tab and click the AutoComplete button. 3. In the AutoComplete Settings window, shown in the following illustration, you can choose what you want AutoComplete to help you with. If you don’t want to use any AutoComplete features, just clear all of the check boxes and click OK. Notice also the Passwords option. IE can help keep track of the passwords you use on the Web, and you can simply click the provided button on this tab to enter or remove passwords. Whenever I click the Mail icon in IE, Outlook Express opens, but I use another program. Operating Systems Affected Windows XP Professional and Home Editions are affected. Cause IE chooses certain programs to open by default. For example, if you need to send e- mail and you click the Mail icon on the toolbar, Outlook Express opens (of course). The good news is that you can change this setting so that your Eudora mail opens instead. The Pain Killer Assuming the alternate e-mail application is installed, follow these steps: 1. Click Start | Control Panel | Internet Options. 2. Click the Programs tab. 3. In the Programs window, shown in the following illustration, click the drop- down menu under mail (or any other program as well) and choose the application that you want to use. Then click OK. [...]... a message in a different language Operating Systems Affected Windows XP Professional and Home Editions are affected Cause E-mail message headers contain encoding information that Outlook Express reads If a message comes to you in a language other than English but the header information is not present or correct, Outlook Express does not know how to display the message You can manually select the language,... creating a new account Operating Systems Affected Windows XP Professional and Home Editions are affected Cause From time to time, information in your account may change Your ISP may give you a new password, or the name of one of the mail servers may change The good news is that you can make editorial changes to your account without deleting and creating a new one To make those changes, you'll need to. .. following illustration, and make any desired font setting changes or changes to stationery defaults Click OK when you are done I am afraid to open e-mail attachments because they could contain viruses Operating Systems Affected Windows XP Professional and Home Editions are affected Cause A major way of spreading computer viruses is through e-mail attachments A user receives an e-mail with an attachment, opens... are done I can't create a mail/news rule Operating Systems Affected Windows XP Professional and Home Editions are affected Cause Outlook Express provides you the option to create rules that determine how certain email or news messages are handled You can create rules based on message content, words in the subject heading, and even rules that automatically list certain people in the To field The Pain... help and information Problems with Outlook Express Connections Just as a dial-up connection must have certain information to connect, an e-mail client must have certain information for you to be able to send and receive e-mail This information, called an account, enables your computer to interact with a mail server at your Internet service provider (ISP) so that you can send and receive e-mail An account... language, however In the same manner, it is easy to send encoded messages in other languages by choosing Format | Encoding in the new message you are creating The Pain Killer To read a message in another language, open the message, click View | Encoding, and then choose the correct language I can't remove the preview pane Operating Systems Affected Windows XP Professional and Home Editions are affected... certain the file is not infected Play it safe! My news messages keep disappearing every few days Operating Systems Affected Windows XP Professional and Home Editions are affected Cause News messages are meant to be read and cleaned out quickly due to the volume that you can sometimes receive By default, Outlook Express automatically deletes news messages after five days, but you can change this behavior...When printing from IE, I don’t want background colors and images to print Operating Systems Affected Windows XP Professional and Home Editions are affected Cause IE provides a number of advanced configuration options that control a bunch of different IE settings You can make changes here easily, including printing options The Pain Killer Open Internet Options and click the Advanced tab, as shown in Figure... creating a Custom level as well This feature allows you to pick and choose what is allowed or not allowed If you want to create a Custom level, click the Custom Level button 4 This opens the Security Settings window, as you can see in the following illustration Click the radio button you want for each setting and click OK I need to make sure a certain site is blocked Operating Systems Affected Windows. .. settings and click What’s This for more information Managing Internet Explorer Security IE 6, which is included with Windows XP, contains a number of security features that are designed to keep you safe from Internet content as well as keep your personal information private These settings are great and much needed, but they can cause you some configuration headaches as well The following sections explore . language. Operating Systems Affected Windows XP Professional and Home Editions are affected. Cause E-mail message headers contain encoding information that Outlook Express reads. If a message. can learn more about configuring toolbars in Chapter 2. I want IE to use a different default home page. Operating Systems Affected Windows XP Professional and Home Editions are affected. Cause. I always have to type my password when I am trying to download mail. Operating Systems Affected Windows XP Professional and Home Editions are affected. Cause A small check box setting on