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Search Engines are useful for looking for pages that are of interest to you. There are a lot of search engines on the internet and some of the most popular can be found in our "Search the Web" section.

They work in two different ways ;

1. The first type of search engine allows you to type in keywords to find pages that mention these words. Altavista works in this way.

2. The second type allows you to choose sections and then subsections till you reach the part that interests you. This is a directory. You can use Yahoo like this.

For example, to search on Altavista for "growing better roses", you'd be best to start specific and if that doesn't find you anything of interest, broaden you search. eg. Initially type in the search box "growing better roses", then subsequently "roses", then "gardening tips".

To search for the same subject on Yahoo, you might select "Recreation and Sport" then "Home and Garden", then "Gardening". Within this section you can then look to see what pages interest you.

Saving What You Find

If you wish to save the text that you see on the screen, clicking "File" and "Save As" and selecting "htm/html" will allow you save it to your machine to view later. Remember where you save it to.

If you are using Internet Explorer 5 as supplied by Howff Internet, you will also be able to save the pictures on the page using this method.

If you wish only to save a picture, right click on the picture and select "Save As". If you are using a Macintosh, you should be able to hold down the mouse button on the picture and drag it out onto your desktop.

Remember, most web documents are copyrighted material. You may not distribute them without the permission from the original author. You may, however, maintain a local copy of the page on your system for your own personal reference.

Printing Webpages

You should be able to print a webpage in the same way as any other document. Selecting File/Print will take you into your printer properties, where you can select whether to print just the frame you are in or the whole page.

Downloading Files

All kinds of files on the web are available to download. From manuals for your hardware to all sorts of programs. If you plan on regularly downloading files, it is wise to equip yourself with an anti-virus program.

Downloading is the term used to describe the process of moving software from someone else's computer into your own local computer. Generally there are four major types of software you can download from the Internet.

Before you download any file, it is wise to know exactly what it is. Common terms you will find are - Demos, Freeware, Shareware and patches/upgrades. If you are unsure what any of these are, click on the link to read more about it.

Pay attention to the size of the file you are downloading. How fast you are able to download will depend on the speed of your modem, connection speed, how busy the download site is and many other variables. A file of about 6 Megabytes (Mb) with a 56k modem, will take about an hour to download.

It is also a good idea if you always save the downloaded files in the same directory, then you know where they are and removing them will be easier since they are all in one location on your hard drive.

Download Identification

Downloading files is only one step in a series of steps usually required to make a file useable on your system.

Once you have downloaded a file (the easy part), the next problem is figuring out what to do with it.

In many cases, the download will be an executable file (for example, .exe) so simply running the file will install the software on your machine. In some cases you won't be so lucky.

Mac owners have it fairly easy because their systems will inform the user what type of file it is.

Windows users will have to look at the extension of the file. The extension is the part following the period ("."). For example, some files may have a ".zip" extension. This identifies the file as a particular type of compressed file. The following file extensions can be used to identify archives. .zip .z .gz .pak .r00 .arj .uue. To open these files you will need a program to help you. For example winzip, available from http://www.winzip.com, will allow you to open .zip and .gz files.

If you can't see the extension, you'll need to go into a folder window and select View/Options.

Make sure the dot is in "Show all files".

As well as compressed file types there are many others. A small selection is shown below along with suggested programs you can open them with. If you are unsure you are best to search on the web for the file type, or find the homepage of an application you think might open the file.

Web Syntax

Email addresses are made up of a username and a domain. The username is the part of the address before the "@" symbol. Email addresses do not contain spaces nor do they ever end in a ".". The username signifies usually the persons name or nickname, the domain is their company, internet service provider or supplier of the email address. To use email, you need an email program like Outlook Express.

Webpages start with the syntax http:// to signify that they are for viewing in a web browser. Usually the next three letters are "www", short for "world wide web". After that is the domain. The webpage may also then take you into another directory by having /folder/ at the end, or to a particular users page by having ~username. To access a webpage you can either type it in your browser pane, or go to File/Open. More information regarding the web browser Intenet Explorer, can be found here.

File Transfer Protocol Sites (FTP) store files. They follow the same syntax rules as webpages, only start with the prefix "ftp://".