9-28-10

Multi-Tab Start Up for Internet Explorer

I don’t know about you, but I have a routine when it comes to browsing the Internet. I go to the same sites every day to check out news, stocks, comics and blogs; leaving all the extra curricular stuff for after I’ve checked my usual stable of sites.
So that’s why this Internet Explorer 8 trick appeals to me. Today we’re going to learn how to make it so when you start IE 8 all of your daily sites come up in their own tabs!

Open Internet Explorer 8 and click Tools>Internet Options.
Make sure the General tab is selected and under Home Page type in the addresses of the sites you want to open up when you start IE.

Firefox Quick Bookmarks

Here’s a nifty way to keep all your frequently visited sites easily within reach in Mozilla Firefox.
All you have to do is drag and drop a bookmark into the little space in between the navigation buttons and where you first tab starts.
Now keep dragging and dropping bookmarks as desired.
You can also drag and drop open tabs into these spots, as well as site headers of some websites, too!

I lost my icon in bottom right hand corner that shows I'm connected to the Internet. How do I get it back?
Good question

Sometimes your Internet connectivity icon (located in the bottom right hand corner of your screen) can seem to disappear as if by magic. This is annoying when you want to find out information about your Internet connection like speed, packets sent and received or even just which provider you are connected too.
It’s solved quite simply, though. It’s different depending on which version of Windows you are currently running.
Windows XP:
- Click Start icon
- Scroll up to Settings
- Then click on Control Panel
- When the screen has loaded, click on the Globe icon called Network Connections

Now this part might be a little tricky if you use several Internet providers, but should not be a problem for most users.

- Right click on your preferred network then click Properties (It will be the one which has “Connected” status)
- When the new screen loads, make sure you are in the General tab.
- At the bottom, make sure the box is ticked which says “Show icon in notification area when connected”. While you are here, you can also choose to get your computer to start or stop informing you about limited Internet connectivity by ticking the other box.
- Click OK and the icon should now appear.

Windows Vista/7
If you are using Windows Vista or 7, then it is a completely different set of instructions, but just as simple.

- Click the right mouse button on the Windows task-bar
- Click Properties
- Change the tab over to Notification area
- Now, you have several options here. You can choose to show or hide Clock, Volume, Network and
Power by ticking or removing the tick from the boxes. (Note: Windows 7 has drop-down boxes)
- Put a tick in the Network box and make any other changes you wish
- Whilst here, you may also want to change the option where icons are removed from the task-bar if they are not clicked often. This should not be a problem if you click the Internet icon regularly though but is worth consideration.
- Click Apply
- Click OK and the icon should now appear

Also...

Just because the Internet Icon has disappeared does not necessarily mean the Internet is not connected. I always find it easier to open a Web Browser, search something and see if it loads to check connection. If you were looking to check connection speed then there are plenty of free tests available online with a Google search for “Free Internet Speed Test”.

Your computer also might be set up with a setting that hides icons that are inactive. This is helpful if you have a lot of icons at once but can be an annoyance when you are trying to find one. This is easily solved by right clicking the task-bar, going to properties and looking for a ticked box which says something along the lines of “Hide Inactive Icons” and removing the tick.

If none of the above techniques work there are a few things you can do. If you have the settings of your system saved then you can revert back to those. This is likely for those of you with programs like Norton Anti-virus. Also, as a very last resort, you can save your files to an external hard-drive and reinstall your Windows system as the original settings include the icon on the task-bar.

Here’s a nifty way to keep all your frequently visited sites easily within reach in Mozilla Firefox.

All you have to do is drag and drop a bookmark into the little space in between the navigation buttons and where you first tab starts.

Here’s a nifty way to keep all your frequently visited sites easily within reach in Mozilla Firefox.

All you have to do is drag and drop a bookmark into the little space in between the navigation buttons and where you first tab starts.

Firefox Quick Bookmarks

Here’s a nifty way to keep all your frequently visited sites easily within reach in Mozilla Firefox.
All you have to do is drag and drop a bookmark into the little space in between the navigation buttons and where you first tab starts.
Now keep dragging and dropping bookmarks as desired.
You can also drag and drop open tabs into these spots, as well as site headers of some websites, too!

I lost my icon in bottom right hand corner that shows I'm connected to the Internet. How do I get it back?

Sometimes your Internet connectivity icon (located in the bottom right hand corner of your screen) can seem to disappear as if by magic. This is annoying when you want to find out information about your Internet connection like speed, packets sent and received or even just which provider you are connected too.
It’s solved quite simply, though. It’s different depending on which version of Windows you are currently running.
Windows XP:
- Click Start icon
- Scroll up to Settings
- Then click on Control Panel
- When the screen has loaded, click on the Globe icon called Network Connections

Now this part might be a little tricky if you use several Internet providers, but should not be a problem for most users.

- Right click on your preferred network then click Properties (It will be the one which has “Connected” status)
- When the new screen loads, make sure you are in the General tab.
- At the bottom, make sure the box is ticked which says “Show icon in notification area when connected”. While you are here, you can also choose to get your computer to start or stop informing you about limited Internet connectivity by ticking the other box.
- Click OK and the icon should now appear.

Windows Vista/7
If you are using Windows Vista or 7, then it is a completely different set of instructions, but just as simple.

- Click the right mouse button on the Windows task-bar
- Click Properties
- Change the tab over to Notification area
- Now, you have several options here. You can choose to show or hide Clock, Volume, Network and
Power by ticking or removing the tick from the boxes. (Note: Windows 7 has drop-down boxes)
- Put a tick in the Network box and make any other changes you wish
- Whilst here, you may also want to change the option where icons are removed from the task-bar if they are not clicked often. This should not be a problem if you click the Internet icon regularly though but is worth consideration.
- Click Apply
- Click OK and the icon should now appear
Also...
Just because the Internet Icon has disappeared does not necessarily mean the Internet is not connected. I always find it easier to open a Web Browser, search something and see if it loads to check connection. If you were looking to check connection speed then there are plenty of free tests available online with a Google search for “Free Internet Speed Test”.

Your computer also might be set up with a setting that hides icons that are inactive. This is helpful if you have a lot of icons at once but can be an annoyance when you are trying to find one. This is easily solved by right clicking the task-bar, going to properties and looking for a ticked box which says something along the lines of “Hide Inactive Icons” and removing the tick.

If none of the above techniques work there are a few things you can do. If you have the settings of your system saved then you can revert back to those. This is likely for those of you with programs like Norton Anti-virus. Also, as a very last resort, you can save your files to an external hard-drive and reinstall your Windows system as the original settings include the icon on the task-bar.

Here’s a nifty way to keep all your frequently visited sites easily within reach in Mozilla Firefox.

All you have to do is drag and drop a bookmark into the little space in between the navigation buttons and where you first tab starts.

How do I know if I have Service Pack 3 on my Windows XP computer?
A:
It's easy, Just right-click "My Computer" and choose "Properties". In the System Properties box look under "System".
If you see "Service Pack 3" listed there, then it is installed

MS Word 2010: A New Text Formatting Button

I happened to be working in Word 2010 the other day and happened upon a new button in the Font group of the Home tab in the Ribbon.
Find out what this button is all about by reading here!

http://www.watson.org/~leigh/celts.html

Do you get too much email? Priority Inbox helps you get through it faster by putting the most important mail at the top of your inbox.

Watch this short video to see how it works or learn more: