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Tips on Setting Up a Surfing Computer

 

Students in several of my classes have asked me for advice on setting up their computer for "surfing the web". The following are my tips. (If you are interested in creating your own web pages, check here.)

Most of these programs can be "downloaded" to your machine by using your browser. You just click on the download link. A "save" box then appears. You will need to find the location you want to download to. I have set up a directory under my "C" drive called "MyDownloadFiles". I then save, (download), all files to that directory.

After your download is complete, (the transfer to your computer has ended), you are ready to install. If the file is ends in ".exe", you can simply execute it. You can do this by clicking on the "Start" button at the lower right hand corner of your Windows screen, and using "run" to execute it. (You "browse" in the "run" window until you find your file in the directory you downloaded to. If the file ends in ".zip", you will need to unzip it using a file compression program. This is easy enough to do by simply following the instructions given with the file compression program. Thus, one of the first programs to down load is the "zip" program.

Unfortunately, this information is for a PC. Although Macs are probably the better machine, PC's are what are in use in most businesses and needed for the software I use most.

Essential Programs....

Browser

I happen to like Netscape as a browser, even though most PCs come with Microsoft Explorer. Therefore the first thing I do is download Netscape from their site at http://www.netscape.com/computing/download/index.html?cp=hom09pbro

I can then use this program to download the programs that follow.
File Compression Program I like to use WinZip. It is a shareware program and costs about $29.00. You can download a copy from http://www.winzip.com/tucows/
FTP Program I like to use WS_FTE_LTE available at http://www.tucows.agis.net/adnload/dlwsftple.html. This is the program that lets you upload and download files. Most often, you will need a login id and password to access a site. (This will be given to you if you are supposed to have it.) Other sites do permit an anonymous login. When this occurs, they may require your e-mail as a password or not. You just never know and may have to try different ways if you don't know for sure.
Telnet Program Although you can use the "telnet" program that comes with Windows by typing in "telnet" in the "run" box of the "Start" menu, I don't find this telnet program to have enough features. I use Tera Term Pro, available at http://www.vector.co.jp/authors/VA002416/teraterm.html for a very reasonable fee.

Other Programs I find useful include......

Text Editor I use Textpad available at http://www.textpad.com/
Ping I use a wonderful utility from NetLab available at http://www.rocketdownload.com/cgi-bin/thanks4downloading.asp?file=/dnload/netlab95.exe&r=
Font Display There are too many fonts in this world and I can't ever figure out which one is which. Use the MyFonts shareware program to create your own list of needed fonts that you can print out. Available at http://www.mytools.com/page6.html

Some nifty web pages I find useful

Web Searching

I find that this site is wonderfully comprehensive and contains everything I want to know without information overload.
http://searchenginewatch.com/facts/powersearch.html

If you find a program you like especially, let me know at cdgracie@wccnet.org