Look This Way for Help With Web Searches
Searching for information on the Internet can be a daunting task, given the glut of information out there on any given subject. It’s not unusual for a search engine to find hundreds of thousands of Web pages.
One way to get more focused search responses is to narrow the search criteria. For example, if you want to purchase new golf clubs, try entering “golf clubs + sale” without the quotes to narrow your search. Conversely, you can add a minus sign before a word in your search criteria to find Web pages that don’t include that word.
A valuable search tool for the Internet is WebFerret. The basic version is available as a free download from https://www.ferretsoft.com, but a more robust version costs $26.95. WebFerret checks as many as 28 popular search engines and lets you specify the maximum number of hits in response to an inquiry. What a blessing that feature is.
Another way to save time is to browse Web sites simultaneously. In Internet Explorer, click File, then New, then Window. Click in the Address window to highlight the current URL and simply type in the URL for the second Web site you wish to view. Netscape users need only click File and then New Window.
Both browsers support a keyboard shortcut for opening new browser windows. Simultaneously pressing the Ctrl key and “n” activates a new window. Once the new window opens and the new site loads, you can easily jump back and forth between the two sites by clicking on each site’s button on the taskbar.
You can enjoy faster browsing with NetSonic, available free at https://www.netsonic.com. A version with more features costs $39.95. NetSonic stores information about your favorite Web pages in cache memory so that when you revisit a Web site, text and graphics appear instantly.
Browser software can be tuned to give you faster access to Web pages. For example, Internet Explorer lets you set the amount of hard drive space available for temporary Internet files. While Explorer is open, click Tools and then Internet Options. In the “Temporary Internet files” section, click the Settings button.
Click the slider switch located under “Amount of disk space to use” and drag it to the right. I find that placing the slider switch about one-third of the way from the left side works well. Click OK both times it appears to close the dialogue box.
If you use Netscape Communicator, click Edit and then Preferences. Under Category on the left, double-click Advanced and then Cache. The default setting for Memory Cache is 1024. Highlight that number and then change it to 2048. Press the Tab key twice and highlight the number that appears in the Disk Cache box. Type in 10500, and then click OK. Notice that there are buttons that will clear memory cache or clear disk cache when clicked. Clearing out memory and disk cache from time to time can improve Internet performance.
If you use America Online to connect to the Internet, consider using Internet Explorer or Netscape to surf the Web. Your Windows computer already has IE installed, and you can use the AOL browser to download Netscape. Once connected to AOL, you can minimize the AOL screen and open Explorer or Netscape.
Both Explorer and Netscape allow you to store the addresses of Web pages you visit frequently. In Explorer, click Favorites while your Web page is open and then click OK. In Netscape, open the Web page you want to save and click Bookmarks. Click Add Bookmark. Now you can reach your favorite Web pages by clicking Favorites in Explorer or Bookmarks in Netscape and then clicking the Web page from the list.
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Jeff Levy hosts the “On Computers” radio talk show from 9 a.m. to noon Sundays on KFI-AM (640).