Cruising the Web

Some people consider an Internet connection to be optional, but Windows Vista prefers mandatory, thank you very much. Even when being installed, Windows Vista starts reaching for the Internet, eager for any hint of a connection. After checking in with the Internet, for example, Windows Vista kindly nudges your computer’s clock to the correct time. Some motives are less pure: Windows Vista checks with Microsoft to make sure that you’re not installing a pirated copy. This article explains how to connect with the Internet, visit Web sites, and find all the good stuff online. For ways to keep out the bad stuff, be sure to visit Article 10 for a quick primer on safe computing. The Internet’s full of bad neighborhoods, and that article explains how to avoid viruses, spyware, hijackers, and other Internet parasites. Once your computer’s wearing its appropriate helmet and kneepads, however, hop onto the Internet and enjoy the ride. What Is the Internet? Today, most people take the Internet for granted, much like a telephone line. Instead of marveling at the Internet’s internal gearing, they’ve grown accustomed to this new land called cyberspace, and its healthy stock of attractions:

- Library: The Internet is stuffed with educational material: classic articles, hourly news updates, foreign language dictionaries, specialized encyclopedias, and more. Visit RefDesk (www.refdesk.com) for a detailed list of some of the Internet’s best free reference materials.

- Store: Although the Internet seemed like a novelty ten years ago, today the Internet revolves around making money. You can purchase nearly anything available in stores (and some things not sold in stores) on the Internet and ship it to your thatch hut. Amazon (www.amazon.com) even lets you listen to song snippets and read reviews before putting that John Coltrane CD on your credit card.

- Communicator: Some people treat the Internet as a private postal service for sending messages to friends, coworkers, and even strangers around the world. Unfortunately, unwelcome marketers do the same, filling everybody’s inboxes with increasingly desperate, unsolicited sales pitches known as spam. (I cover Windows Mail, Vista’s e-mail program, in Article 9.)

- Time waster: When sitting in a waiting room, everybody naturally reaches for the magazine table. The Internet, too, offers zillions of ways

to waste time. Jumping from one Web site to another is much like flipping pages in a magazine, but each flip often reveals a completely different, yet oddly related, magazine, brimming with fascinating information. Or at least it seems so at the time.

- Entertainment: The Internet brings not only a movie’s show times into your home, but also its trailers, cast lists, reviews, and celebrity gossip. If you’re tired of movies that week, browse for online games, research exotic travel destinations, or look up sporting statistics. Simply put, the Internet is a 24-hour international library that’s stocked with something for everyone.

- Just as a television channel surfer flips from channel to channel, a Web surfer moves from page to page, sampling the vast and esoteric piles of information.

- Almost every government but China loves the Internet. In the United States, the FBI shares pictures of its ten most wanted criminals (www.fbi.gov), and the Internal Revenue Service (www.irs.ustreas.gov) lets Internet users make free copies of tax forms 24 hours a day. Protesting a parking ticket? Your city’s Web site probably hands you the right number faster than the phone article.

- Universities and scientists love the network, too, because they can file grant forms more quickly than ever. Worried about the goo coagulating in the crevices of your bromeliads? The Internet’s famed botanical site (www.botany.net) enables researchers to study everything from Australian acacias to zoosporic fungi.

- Nearly all computer companies support their products on the Internet. Visitors can swap messages with technicians and other users about their latest computing woes. You may be able to download a fix or uncover the magic sequence of keystrokes that solves a problem. What’s an ISP, and Why Do I Need One? Everybody needs four things to connect to the Web: a computer, Web browser software, a modem, and an Internet service provider (ISP). You already have the computer, and Vista comes with a Web browser called Internet Explorer. Most PCs include a built-in modem. (If yours doesn’t, you’ll find out when you first try to set up your ISP, as I describe in the next section.) That means most people need to find only an ISP. Although television signals come wafting through the air to your TV set for free, you must pay an ISP for the privilege of surfing the Web. Specifically, you pay the ISP for a password and account name. When your computer’s modem connects to your ISP’s computers, Internet Explorer automatically enters your password and account name, and you’re ready to surf the Web. Don’t know which ISP to choose? First, different ISPs serve different areas. Ask your friends, neighbors, or local librarians how they connect, and whether they recommend their ISP. Call several ISPs for a rate quote and then compare rates. Most bill on a monthly basis; if you’re not happy, you can always switch.

- Although a few ISPs charge for each minute you’re connected, most charge a flat monthly fee between $15 and $50 for unlimited service. Make sure that you know your rate before hopping aboard, or you may be surprised at the month’s end.

- Most free ISPs went out of business when the bottom fell out of the Internet market. At the time of this writing, you can still find limited Internet access for free from Juno (www.juno.com) and NetZero (www.netzero.com), but you have to peek around the ads to see the screen.

- ISPs let you connect to the Internet in a variety of ways. The slowest ISPs use a dialup modem and an ordinary phone line. Faster still are broadband connections: special DSL or ISDN lines provided by some phone companies, and the even faster cable modems, supplied by your cable company. When shopping for speedy ISPs, your geographic location usually determines your options, unfortunately.

- Some ISPs let their tech-savvy customers create their own Web pages for other Internet members to visit. Show the world pictures of your kids and cats, share your favorite recipes, talk about your favorite car waxes, or swap tips on constructing fishing flies or prom gowns. Setting Up Internet Explorer the First Time Windows Vista constantly looks for a working Internet connection in your PC. If it finds one, either through a network or wireless hotspot, you’re set: Vista passes the news along to Internet Explorer, and your PC can connect to the Internet immediately. If Vista can’t find the Internet, though — a frequent occurrence with dialup modems — the job’s up to you. To guide you smoothly through the turmoil of setting up an Internet connection, Vista passes you a questionnaire, quizzing you about the details. After a bit of interrogation, Vista helps connect your computer to your ISP so that you can Web surf like the best of them. Setting up a wired or wireless network? Vista should automatically find the network’s Internet connection and share it with every PC on your network. If not, see Article 14 for troubleshooting details. To transfer your existing Internet account settings to or from another computer, use Windows Vista’s Easy Transfer program, covered in Article 19. The program copies one PC’s Internet settings into the other PC, sparing you the bother of following these steps. Here’s what you need to get started:

- Your username, password, and access phone number. If you don’t have an ISP yet, the wizard finds you one, so grab a pencil and paper. (The wizard’s ISP suggestions are a tad pricey, however.)

- A plugged-in modem. Most new computers come with a modem lodged in their innards. To see whether one’s inside of yours, look for telephone jacks on the back of your computer, near where all the other cables protrude. Then connect a standard phone cable between that jack (the computer’s jack says Line, not Phone) and the phone jack in your wall. Whenever your Internet connection gives you log-on problems, head here and run through the following steps. The wizard walks you through your current settings, letting you make changes. Summon the wizard by following these steps:

1. Click the Start button and choose Connect To. The Connect To button fetches a list of every way your PC currently knows how to connect with the Internet. But when Vista can’t find a way for your PC to connect, it comes up with an empty list. Instead, Vista may complain that it can’t find any wireless networks in range of your PC. If so, ignore its whines and move to Step 2. If Vista did find a wireless network, by chance, you’re in luck. You can hop aboard the signal by double-clicking the network’s name. (I cover wireless networks in Article 14.)

2. Choose Set Up a Connection or Network. Scour the window’s fine print for this option. When clicked, depending on your PC’s model and setup, Vista may display any or all of these options:

• Connect to the Internet: Vista makes yet another valiant effort to sniff out an Internet signal. Broadband users should click here, for example, to let Vista find and automatically set up their Internet connection.

• Set Up a Wireless Router or Access Point: Head here to set up a private wireless Internet connection for your home or office, a task I cover in Article 14.

• Manually Connect to a Wireless Network: If a wireless network demands a name and password, head here to enter them. You click here mostly when connecting to paid wireless networks at airports or coffee shops.

• Set Up a Wireless Ad Hoc (Computer-to-Computer) network: Very rarely used, this option lets you connect two or more PCs for exchanging files and other information.

• Set Up a Dial-Up Connection: This one lets you tell Vista what to do with that phone line you’ve plugged into your PC’s phone jack. • Connect to a Workplace: This setting lets you connect securely to your office — if your office network supports this sophisticated type of connection. You’ll need the settings and instructions from your office’s computer department.

• Connect to a Bluetooth Personal Area Network (PAN): If your PC has Bluetooth — a short-range form of wireless that replaces cables — click here to set up the connection. You head here to connect with Bluetooth cell phones, for example.

3. Choose Set Up a Dial-Up Connection. Because you’re not choosing wireless or broadband, dialup is your only Internet connection option. To speed things along, Vista passes you a questionnaire, ready for you to enter your dialup ISP’s information.

4. Enter your dialup ISP’s information. Here’s where you enter your three all-important pieces of information: Your ISP’s dialup number, your username, and your password, as described in the following list.

• Dial-up Phone Number: Enter the phone number your ISP gave you, complete with the area code.

• User-Name: This isn’t necessarily your own name, but the username your ISP assigned to you when giving you the account. (It’s often the first part of your e-mail address, as well.) • Password: Type your password here. To make sure that you’re entering your password correctly, check the box called Show Characters. Then uncheck the box when you’ve entered the password without typos. Be sure to check Remember This Password. That keeps you from reentering your name and password each time you want to dial the Internet. (Don’t check that box if you don’t want your roommate or others to be able to dial your connection.)

• Connection Name: Vista simply names your connection Dial-Up Connection. Change it to something more descriptive if you’re juggling dialup accounts from several ISPs.

• Allow Other People to Use This Connection: Check this option to let people with other user accounts on your PC log on with this connection. Clicking the words I Don’t Have an ISP brings up a window where you can sign up with Microsoft’s own ISP or with one of Microsoft’s partners. Click the words Dialing Rules, next to the phone number. There, you can enter key details like your country, area code, and whether you need to dial a number to reach an outside line. Windows remembers this information, making sure that it dials a 1 if you’re dialing outside your area code, for example. Laptoppers should visit Dialing Rules for every city they visit.

5. Click the Connect button. If you’re lucky, your PC connects to the Internet (but doesn’t offer any clues that you’ve connected). Load Internet Explorer from the Start menu, and see if it lets you visit Web sites. If Internet Explorer still can’t visit the Internet, move to Step 6.

6. Click the Start menu and choose Connect To. Your newly created dialup connection will be waiting.

7. Click the Dial-Up Internet connection and click Connect. Vista tosses one more screen in your face. This gives you a chance to type in your password, for example, if you didn’t check Remember This Password in Step 4. It’s also where you can tweak your connection settings, handy for temporarily changing the phone number, for example.

8. Click Dial to dial the Internet and connect to your ISP. You’re done. Windows Vista automatically leaps into action, uses your settings to call your Internet provider, and lets you know when it’s connected. Then it’s time to load Internet Explorer from the Start menu and start browsing. In the future, though, just load Internet Explorer when you want to browse. Your PC automatically dials the Internet using the connections you’ve created here. Always plugging its own products, Microsoft drops you off at one of its own Web pages (Windows Live), and you’re ready to browse. Need a place to go for a quick test? Internet Explorer doesn’t automatically hang up when you’re done browsing. To make your PC hang up the phone when you close Internet Explorer, choose Internet Options from the program’s Tools menu and click the Connections tab. Click the Settings button and then the Advanced button. Finally, put a check mark by the words Disconnect When Connection May No Longer Be Needed and click OK. Navigating the Web with Microsoft Internet Explorer Your Web browser is your Internet surfboard — your transportation between the Internet’s thousands of Web sites. Internet Explorer comes free with Windows Vista, so many people use it out of convenience. Other people prefer browsers published by other software companies, such as Mozilla’s Firefox (www.getfirefox.com). Simply put, you’re not forced to stick with Internet Explorer. Feel free to try other browsers, as they all do pretty much the same thing: take you from one Web site to another. Moving from Web page to Web page All browsers work basically the same way. Every Web page comes with a specific address, just like houses do. Internet Explorer lets you move between pages in three different ways:

- By pointing and clicking a button or link that automatically whisks you away to another page

- By typing a complicated string of code words (the Web address) into the Address box of the Web browser and pressing Enter

- By clicking the navigation buttons on the browser’s toolbar, which is usually at the top of the screen Clicking links The first way is the easiest. Look for links — highlighted words or pictures on a page — and click them. See how the mouse pointer turned into a hand (shown in the margin) as it pointed at the word Articles? Click that word to see more information about my articles. Many words on this page are links, as well; the mouse pointer becomes a hand when near them, and the words become underlined. Click any linked word to see pages dealing with that link’s particular subject. Web page designers get mighty creative these days, and without the little hand pointer, it’s often hard to tell where to point and click. Some buttons look like standard elevator buttons; others look like fuzzy dice or tiny vegetables. But when you click a button, the browser takes you to the page relating to that button. Clicking the fuzzy dice may bring up a betting-odds sheet for local casinos, for example, and vegetables may bring information about the local farmers market. Typing Web addresses in the Address box The second method is the most difficult. If a friend gives you a napkin with a cool Web page’s address written on it, you need to type the Web site’s address into your browser’s Address box yourself. You’ll do fine, as long as you don’t misspell anything. Using Internet Explorer’s toolbar Finally, you can maneuver through the Internet by clicking various buttons on Internet Explorer’s toolbar, which sits at the top of the screen.