PC Hints and Tips

The Vista edition of IE7 includes a feature that is designed to prevent children from accessing websites they shouldn’t. To set it up, go to Tools, Internet Options, then select the Content tab and click Parental Controls. This option isn’t available in the XP version, unfortunately.

I’ve discovered another browser – Visual Explorer (www.visual-explorer.com). I know there a lot of these kicking about already, and some of them are from big and important companies, but this one has a lot of features that you can only find dotted around one or another of its rivals, making it very full-features. My personal favourite is the ability to unlock the navigation buttons from the top of the browser and have them as a floating toolbar.

Orbit Downloader (www.orbitdownloader.com) promises up to 500 per cent faster downloads. It works by splitting the target file into sections and downloading each piece simultaneously. It also lets you download streaming videos and music from sites such as YouTube, MySpace and RapidShare.

If you hold down the Ctrl key while viewing a web page, you can zoom in and out using the scroll wheel on the mouse in Internet Explorer. You can zoom from 10 to 100 per cent.

All web browsers automatically rememver the size that they were last opened at. To solve the problem, simply load your browser, resize the window (or maximise it) by dragging the bottom right-hand corner with your mouse and then click the X to close it. The next time you open the browser, it should be the size you want. If, for some reason, this doesn’t work, repeat the process but hold down Ctrl when you click the X to close the window.

This could be caused by a problem with an extension. Running Firefox in Safe Mode will disable all add-ons and reset the theme and toolbar settings, letting you check (and permanently disable) the source of your woes. To do this, go to Start, All Programs, Mozilla Firefox, Mozilla Firefox (Safe Mode).

When you download and save a file using Firefox, it automatically saves it into the Desktop. If you don’t delete these as you go, your Desktop can soon get cluttered. To keep mine tidier, I created a Firefox Downloads folder. To do this just right-click on the Desktop, choose New and then Folder, then rename it Firefox Downloads. Next open Firefox and select Tools, Options and Main. Look for ‘Save Files to’ and click Browse. Then choose the folder you just created. Any downloads you make are stored in this folder and can be easily located, deleted or stored neatly.

Alternatively, in the same Main section of the Options, tick the ‘Always ask me where to save files’ option and you can make a decision for each download.

I have never found it easy to organise the Favourites menu in Internet Explorer, but I recently discovered a simple way. Click Start, Run and enter Favourites. Your Favourites open in an Explorer window and it’s then easy to move them, delete them, and rename them as if they were files.

I love Firefox and wanted to try out the latest beta of Firefox 3, but couldn’t bring myself to go through the hassle of trying to install it on my computer before it’s full tested. It’s just asking for trouble, isn’t it? But there’s a website called PortableApps (http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/firefox_portable/test) that has a portable version of the software, which you can run on a USB memory drive without having to install it.

IE7 can fill in a previously visited web addresses as you start typing. You’ll need to turn on the Inline AutoComplete feature first though. Go to Tools, Internet Options, click the Advanced tab and tick ‘Use inline AutoComplete’.