1
- Start simply
Instead of watching a big, slow home page load when you start, begin with a blank page, or one without a lot of graphics. In Netscape Navigator, choose General Preferences from the Options menu, click the Appearance tab, and click Start With Blank Page. In Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0, go to the page you want to use as a start-up page. From the View menu, choose Options and click the Navigation tab. Choose Start Page and Use Current.
2
- Turn off everything you don't need
In Netscape, turn graphics off by unchecking Auto Load Images on the Options menu. In Explorer, turn off graphics, sound, and animation by unchecking their boxes on the View/Options menu's Appearance tab. If you really need to see a page's graphics, just click on the Images icon in Netscape. In Explorer, right-click on the image's icon and choose Show Picture.
You also can speed up Netscape for Windows (but not for Mac) by choosing Substitute Colors instead of Automatic. Choose General Preferences from the Options menu; then click the Images tab. For even more speed, click the Colors tab and check Always Use My Colors, Overriding Document, so that Netscape doesn't try to load complex colored Web pages.
You can get rid of blinking and flashing ads by turning off ActiveX and Java. In Explorer, choose Options from the View menu, click the Security tab, and uncheck Run ActiveX scripts. In Netscape 3.0, choose Options/Network Preferences, click the Languages tab, and uncheck Enable Java. In Internet Explorer 3.0, choose View/Options/Security and uncheck Enable Java programs.
3
- Hit the brakes
Big page loading? If a page is taking all day to load, click the Stop icon in your browser. You will see the part of the page that has already loaded and you can decide whether it is worthwhile to get the whole thing.
4
- Keep on surfin'
To continue your Web journey instead of waiting for big downloads, open a new browser window while files download. In Navigator, choose New Web Browser from the File menu or press Ctrl+N (Command+N on the Mac). In Internet Explorer, choose New Window from the File menu, or right-click on a shortcut or link and choose Open In New Window.
However, don't open too many new browser windows, or you will slow your computer down.
5
- Use the right-click shortcuts instead of the menus
Shortcut pop-up menus are hidden everywhere in your browser. In Windows, right-click to see them. On the Mac, hold down the mouse button to get them. The menu you get depends upon where you click. For example, in Netscape, you can go forward and back by right-clicking on a page; in Explorer, you can select all the text on the page by doing the same thing.
6
- Manage your cache
Both Netscape and Explorer maintain a cache containing the sites you have
visited. This is good, because it lets you quickly return to places you have already been. However, sometimes it's bad, because your cache can fill up
without your knowing it.
If you are visiting a lot of the same sites daily, increase the cache's size to, say, 10MB. In Navigator, choose Network Preferences from the Options menu and change the cache's size. In Explorer, choose Options from the Views menu, click the Advanced tab, click Settings, and drag the slider to the right.
If you have been online a long time, you can speed up your browser by purging your cache. In Explorer, use View/Options/Advanced and click Empty button; in Netscape, use Options/Network Preferences/Cache and click Clear Memory Cache Now.
7
- Avoid typing long URLs
Always copy and paste URLs to avoid making a typo and getting nowhere. If you have to type a URL, and it begins with "www" and ends with ".com," just type the part in the middle, such as "yahoo." Both Netscape and Explorer will figure out where you want to go.
There are other ways of avoiding typing URLs. By all means, bookmark any site you think you would like go back to later. Or use your browser's Go menu or History feature to return quickly to a site you have already seen. If you have seen the site recently, use the Back and Forward icons. In Netscape, Alt plus the left and right arrow keys will take you forward and back, too.
8
- Locate lost URLs
Lost a URL? This can really slow you down. Fortunately, there is a way to search for them. Enter any of the site's keywords that you can remember in any of the Web search engines, such as Yahoo!, Lycos, OpenText, or WebCrawler. To search multiple search engines at the same time, try SavvySearch.
9
- Speed up your searches
Be as specific as you can. Most Internet search engines have a specialized language. For example, AltaVista lets you search for titles of Web pages if you precede what you are searching for with the word TITLE. Infoseek uses plus and minus symbols to indicate AND and OR. OpenText lets you search for phrases. Read the instructions for the search engine you are using to find out about its language.
10
- FIND what you're seeking
Once you have located a page containing what you need, don't waste time scrolling through it. In Netscape, press Ctrl (Command)+F, enter the words you are searching for, and press Enter. You will go straight there.
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