windows xp gigabook for dummies

by Peter Weverka
Mark Chambers,Greg Harvey,Woody Leonhard,
John Levine,Margaret Levine Young, Doug Lowe
Windows
®
XP
GIGABOOK
FOR
DUMmIES
‰
by Peter Weverka
Mark Chambers,Greg Harvey,Woody Leonhard,
John Levine,Margaret Levine Young, Doug Lowe
Windows
®
XP
GIGABOOK
FOR
DUMmIES
‰
Windows
®
XP GigaBook For Dummies
®
Published by
Wiley Publishing, Inc.
111 River Street
Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774
www.wiley.com

Copyright © 2004 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
Published simultaneously in Canada
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2004101967
ISBN: 0-7645-6922-8
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
1B/RU/QU/QU/IN
iii
Acknowledgments
Wiley Publishing, Inc. gratefully acknowledges the contributions of these authors
and contributing writers: Peter Weverka, Woody Leonhard, Mark L. Chambers, Greg
Harvey, John Levine, Doug Lowe, and Margaret Levine Young.
We would like to thank Peter Weverka for editing this book, Jean Rogers for copy
editing it, and Linda Morris for serving as project editor. Thanks as well go to
Kerwin McKenzie for his technical edits, Richard T. Evans for his index, and Rich
Tennant for the witty cartoons you will find in this book. Thanks are also due to
the many page layout technicians, graphic artists, proofreaders, and others in
Composition Services who worked to bring this book to fruition.
Peter Weverka wishes to thank Steve Hayes for the opportunity to work on this and
other For Dummies books for Wiley Publishing, Inc.
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Technical Editor: Kerwin McKenzie
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Cartoons: Rich Tennant (
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Production
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Special Help: Joni Burns, Erin Zeltner
Publishing and Editorial for Technology Dummies
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Publishing for Consumer Dummies
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Contents at a Glance
Introduction 1
Book I: Windows XP 5
Part I: Getting to Know Windows XP 7
Chapter 1: Introducing Windows XP 7
Chapter 2: Upgrading to Windows XP 13
Chapter 3: Finding Your Way around Windows XP 23
Part II: Customizing Windows XP 47

Chapter 4: Personalizing Your Desktop 47
Chapter 5: Organizing Your Windows XP Interface 65
Chapter 6: Setting Up Personal Accounts 77
Part III: Managing Files and Maintaining Order 87
Chapter 7: Managing Files and Folders 87
Chapter 8: Locating Stuff with Windows XP 99
Chapter 9: Adding and Removing Software 111
Chapter 10: Maintaining Your Windows XP System 117
Part IV: Exploring Windows XP Multimedia 131
Chapter 11: Jammin’ with Windows Media Player 131
Chapter 12: Lights! Action! Windows Movie Maker 147
Chapter 13: Working with Digital Pictures 163
Book II: PCs and Peripherals 177
Part I: Hardware 179
Chapter 1: Starting with the Basics 179
Chapter 2: Additional Toys Your PC Will Enjoy 189
Chapter 3: Connectors, Ports, and Sundry Openings 203
Chapter 4: Maintaining Your Hardware 211
Part II: Peripheral Equipment 223
Chapter 5: Scanning with Gusto 223
Chapter 6: Dude, MP3 Rocks! 239
Chapter 7: Making Movies with Your PC 251
Chapter 8: I Can Make My Own DVDs? 267
Chapter 9: I’m Okay, You’re a Digital Camera 281
Part III: Upgrading and Supercharging 297
Chapter 10: Determining What to Upgrade 297
Chapter 11: Adding RAM to Your Hot Rod 303
Chapter 12: Scotty, I Need More Power! 309
Chapter 13: Adding Hard Drive Territory to Your System 317
Chapter 14: Partying with USB, FireWire, and Hubs 325

Chapter 15: Pumping Up Your Sound and Video 331
Part IV: Home Networking 339
Chapter 16: Do I Really Need a Network? 339
Chapter 17: Ethernet to the Rescue 345
Chapter 18: Going Wireless 365
Chapter 19: Sharing Your Internet Connection 377
Book III: The Internet 389
Part I: Going Online with an ISP 391
Chapter 1: Hooking Up with the Right Service 391
Chapter 2: Managing Your Online Security 395
Chapter 3: America Online 401
Part II: Getting Caught in the World Wide Web 411
Chapter 4: Browsers and What They Do 411
Chapter 5: Customizing Your Browser Settings 427
Chapter 6: Printing and Saving Web Information 441
Part III: E-Mail 449
Chapter 7: E-Mail Basics 449
Chapter 8: Sending and Receiving E-Mail with Outlook Express 455
Chapter 9: Organizing E-Mail Addresses and Messages 463
Chapter 10: Mailing Lists 471
Part IV: Other Online Communications 479
Chapter 11: Chatting Online 479
Chapter 12: Instant Messaging 485
Chapter 13: Keeping Up to Date with News 491
Part V: Creating Web Pages 499
Chapter 14: Getting Started with Web Publishing 499
Chapter 15: Elements of Web Page Design 507
Chapter 16: Working with Graphics, Sounds, and Videos 517
Chapter 17: Publishing on the Web 527
Part VI: Can’t-Miss Stops on the Internet 533

Chapter 18: Finding Your Way with Google 533
Chapter 19: Getting Bargains on eBay 539
Chapter 20: Planning Your Next Vacation Online 549
Chapter 21: Researching Investments Online 557
Chapter 22: Listening to the Music 567
Book IV: Office 2003 and Money 2004 571
Part I: Word 2003 573
Chapter 1: Entering, Editing, and Formatting Text 573
Chapter 2: Speed Techniques for Using Word 581
Chapter 3: Laying Out Text and Pages 595
Chapter 4: Word Styles 613
Chapter 5: Constructing the Perfect Table 621
Chapter 6: Getting Word’s Help with Office Chores 631
Part II: Outlook 2003 649
Chapter 7: Getting Acquainted with Outlook 649
Chapter 8: Handling Your E-Mail 661
Chapter 9: Managing Your Time and Schedule 683
Part III: PowerPoint 2003 691
Chapter 10: Getting Started in PowerPoint 691
Chapter 11: Entering the Text 703
Chapter 12: Advanced Formatting Techniques 709
Chapter 13: Giving the Presentation 719
Part IV: Excel 2003 725
Chapter 14: Up and Running with Excel 725
Chapter 15: Refining Your Worksheet 737
Chapter 16: Formulas and Functions for Crunching Numbers 745
Chapter 17: Making a Worksheet Easier to Read and Understand 757
Chapter 18: Seeing Data in Charts 767
Part V: Money 2004 775
Chapter 19: Introducing Money 775

Chapter 20: Setting Up Your Accounts 781
Chapter 21: Recording Your Financial Activity 791
Chapter 22: Categorizing Your Spending and Income 809
Chapter 23: Reconciling, or Balancing, an Account 819
Chapter 24: Money for Investors 827
Index 849
Table of Contents
Introduction 1
What’s in This Book, Anyway? 1
What Makes This Book Special 1
Easy-to-look-up information 1
A task-oriented approach 2
A Greatest Hits Collection 2
Foolish Assumptions 2
Conventions Used in This Book 3
Icons Used in This Book 3
Book I: Windows XP 5
Part I: Getting to Know Windows XP 7
Chapter 1: Introducing Windows XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
What Windows XP Does (And Doesn’t) 7
Hardware and software 7
Why do I have to run Windows? 8
A terminology survival kit 8
Where We’ve Been 10
The rise of Windows 10
eNTer NT 11
NT and the “old” Windows 11
Merging the branches 11
Chapter 2: Upgrading to Windows XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

Upgrading — A Brain Transplant 13
Windows Upgrade Advisor/Hardware Compatibility List 14
Considering a clean install 14
Using the Migration Wizard 16
Product Activation 18
What if the Wheels Fall Off? 21
Chapter 3: Finding Your Way around Windows XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
The Desktop 23
Mousing 26
Making the mouse behave 26
Pointers on pointers 28
Using the right button 29
Windows 30
Dialog Boxes 31
Files and Folders 34
Starting with the Start Button 36
Internet 38
E-mail 39
Media Player 39
My Documents, Pictures, Music 39
My Recent Documents 40
My Computer 41
Control Panel 42
x
Windows XP GigaBook For Dummies
Help and Support 44
Search 44
Run 44
All Programs 44
Part II: Customizing Windows XP 47

Chapter 4: Personalizing Your Desktop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47
Recognizing Desktop Levels 47
Setting Colors in Windows XP 50
Picking a Background 52
Controlling Icons 54
Changing Mouse Pointers 56
Selecting Screen Savers 57
Seeing Desktop Text 58
Activating ClearType 59
Showing large fonts 60
Using magnification and high contrast 60
Using Desktop Themes 61
Customizing Folders 61
Chapter 5: Organizing Your Windows XP Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65
Customizing the Start Menu 65
Genesis of the Start menu 65
Pinning to the Start menu 66
Reclaiming most recently used programs 67
Showing recent documents 69
Making minor tweaks to the Start menu 70
Creating Your Own Shortcuts 71
Quick Launch Toolbar 72
Activating 72
Customizing 73
Customizing the Windows Taskbar 74
Custom Startup 75
Chapter 6: Setting Up Personal Accounts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77
Controlling Who Gets On 77
Getting a warm welcome: The Welcome screen 77
Adding users 78

Changing user settings 79
Using account types 80
Avoiding Microsoft Passport 81
Deleting yourself 83
Logoff 83
Part III: Managing Files and Maintaining Order 87
Chapter 7: Managing Files and Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .87
Using Windows Explorer 87
Creating Files and Folders 88
Selecting Files and Folders 89
Modifying Files and Folders 90
Different Ways of Viewing Folders and Files 90
Sharing Folders 92
Sharing on one computer 92
Sneak-in-any-time-you-like sharing 94
Sharing on your network 94
Sharing an entire drive 96
Recycling Files and Folders 97
Chapter 8: Locating Stuff with Windows XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .99
Introducing the Search Companion 99
What you can find 101
What you can’t find 102
Phrasing a search query 102
Looking for Files and Folders 102
Searching for pictures, music, or video 103
Searching for a document 104
Searching for All Files and Folders 105
Using Wildcards 106
Digging Deeper with Advanced Searches 107
Saving a Search 109

Chapter 9: Adding and Removing Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111
Installing and Removing Programs 111
Lessons from the School of Hard Knocks 112
Installing and Removing Parts of Windows 113
Chapter 10: Maintaining Your Windows XP System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .117
Keeping Up-to-Date 117
Understanding Windows Update 117
Setting up automatic updates 118
Performing the update 119
Installing old updates 120
Performing Periodic Maintenance 121
Running an error check 121
Scheduling Cleanups 122
Defragmenting a drive 122
Backing Up and Restoring 123
Scheduling Task Scheduler 124
Zipping and Compression 126
Part IV: Exploring Windows XP Multimedia 131
Chapter 11: Jammin’ with Windows Media Player . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .131
Starting with the Media Guide 131
Playing with Now Playing 132
Playing a CD 133
Changing the graphic area 133
Changing the size of the window 133
Copying from a CD 134
Organizing Your Media Library 135
Leafing through the Media Library 135
Finding the tracks you want 136
Playing tracks in the Media Library 138
Managing playlists 138

Deleting tracks from the Media Library 140
Radio Tuner 140
Listening to a station 141
Saving a station in the Media Library 141
Table of Contents
xi
Copy to CD or Device 142
Understanding CD-Rs and CD-RWs 142
Burning a CD 142
Copying to a digital audio player 144
Chapter 12: Lights! Action! Windows Movie Maker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .147
What You Need to Create Movies 147
Introducing Windows Movie Maker 148
Recording and Editing Video 149
Choosing a camera 149
Recording video 149
Assembling a movie 151
Playing a clip or a movie 152
Viewing storyboard and timeline 153
Trimming a clip 154
Fading 155
Splitting and combining clips 156
Finishing the movie 157
Using Sound Clips 158
Recording a sound clip 158
Adding a sound clip to a movie 159
Organizing Your Clips 160
Chapter 13: Working with Digital Pictures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .163
Choosing a Camera 163
Understanding digital cameras 164

Using conventional cameras 167
Plugging Internet cameras 168
Moving Images to Your Computer 168
Printing Pictures 172
Printing with the wizard 172
Advanced printing software 174
Troubleshooting 174
Book II: PCs and Peripherals 177
Part I: Hardware 179
Chapter 1: Starting with the Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .179
Defining Basic Terms 179
Hardware 179
Software 180
Peripherals 181
The Common Components of a Desktop PC 182
The computer 182
The monitor 184
The keyboard and mouse 185
Speakers 186
Desktop PCs versus Laptop PCs 186
RAM and Processors: The Keys to Performance 187
Your Friend, Your Operating System 188
Windows XP GigaBook For Dummies
xii
Chapter 2: Additional Toys Your PC Will Enjoy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .189
Printers 189
Inkjet versus laser printers 189
Photo printers 191
Label printers 192
Scanners 193

Keyboards, Tablets, and Pointing Things 194
Tickling keys wirelessly 194
Putting a tablet to work 195
Repeat after me: Buy a trackball! 196
Big-Time Game Controllers 196
Video and Digital Cameras 197
External Drives 198
Portable hard drives and CD/DVD recorders 199
Backup drives 200
USB flash drives 200
Surge Protectors and UPS Units 201
Chapter 3: Connectors, Ports, and Sundry Openings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .203
Using USB Stuff 203
Riding in the Fast Lane with FireWire 204
Your Antique Serial Port 205
The Once-Renowned Parallel Port 206
Meet Your Video Port 207
Audio Connectors You’ll Likely Need 207
Keyboard and Mouse Ports on Parade 208
Chapter 4: Maintaining Your Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .211
When Should I Move My PC? 211
Avoiding Dust Bunnies 212
Watching Your Cables 213
Cleaning Monitors and Scanners 214
Cleaning Your Mouse and Keyboard 214
Cleaning and Maintaining Your Printer 215
Cleaning laser printers 215
Changing inkjet cartridges 217
Calibrating your printer 218
Cleaning inkjet cartridges 220

Should you refill used inkjet cartridges? 221
Part II: Peripheral Equipment 223
Chapter 5: Scanning with Gusto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .223
What Happens Inside a Scanner? 223
Your Friend, the Flatbed 224
Popular Scanner Features 226
Basic Scanning with Paint Shop Pro 227
Acquiring the image 227
Rotating and cropping images 231
Converting and saving the image 233
Scanning Do’s and Don’ts 234
Those Irritating (Or Invaluable) Copyrights 235
Adding a Copyright Line 236
Table of Contents
xiii
Chapter 6: Dude, MP3 Rocks! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .239
An MP3 Primer 239
Ripping Your Own MP3 Files 241
Listening to Your Stuff 243
Downloading to an MP3 Player 245
Using Other Sound Formats 246
WAV format 247
WMA format 247
AU format 247
AIFF format 247
MIDI format 247
Burning Audio CDs from MP3 Files 248
Chapter 7: Making Movies with Your PC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .251
Getting the Lowdown on ArcSoft’s ShowBiz 251
Rounding Up Clips and Images 253

Building Your First Movie 254
Adding Transitions without Breaking a Sweat 256
Adding Special Effects without Paying George Lucas 257
Adding Sound 260
You’ve Just Gotta Have Titles! 261
Previewing Your Oscar-Winning Work 262
Saving and Burning before Traveling to Cannes 263
Creating a digital video file on your hard drive 263
Recording your own CD or DVD 265
Chapter 8: I Can Make My Own DVDs? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .267
Welcome to MyDVD 267
Menus ’R Easy! 269
Changing the Look of Your Menus 274
Trimming Movies with Panache 276
Time to Preview 278
Burning Your DVD and Celebrating Afterwards 279
Chapter 9: I’m Okay, You’re a Digital Camera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .281
How Does a Digital Camera Work? 282
The Pros and Cons of Digital Photography 284
Digital Camera Extras to Covet 286
External card readers 286
Rechargeable batteries 287
Lenses 287
Tripods 288
The Lazybone’s Guide to Composing Photographs 288
The Rule of Thirds 288
The Rule of Asymmetry 290
Using lighting creatively 290
Organizing Your Pictures 292
Downloading Your Images 292

Part III: Upgrading and Supercharging 297
Chapter 10: Determining What to Upgrade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .297
Making Performance Upgrades: CPU, Motherboard, and Memory 297
Upgrading your CPU and motherboard 298
Adding memory 298
Expansion Upgrades: USB 2.0 and FireWire 299
Windows XP GigaBook For Dummies
xiv
Making Storage Upgrades: Internal and External Drives 299
Adding a hard drive 300
Adding a recorder or a tape drive 300
Making Sound and Video Upgrades: Sound and Video Cards 301
Sound cards on parade 301
Deciding which video card is right for you 302
Chapter 11: Adding RAM to Your Hot Rod . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .303
Figuring Out What Type of Memory You Need 303
Deciding How Much RAM Is Enough 305
Installing Extra RAM 306
Chapter 12: Scotty, I Need More Power! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .309
Hey, Do I Need to Do This? 309
Selecting a New Motherboard 310
Installing a Motherboard and CPU 311
Installing an Athlon XP or Pentium 4 CPU 311
Installing your motherboard 313
Chapter 13: Adding Hard Drive Territory to Your System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .317
The Tale of Virtual Memory 317
Recognizing a Well-Dressed Hard Drive 319
Size definitely does matter 319
How fast is your access? 319
What does rpm have to do with hard drives? 319

Internal versus External Storage 320
Adding a Second Internal Hard Drive 321
Chapter 14: Partying with USB, FireWire, and Hubs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .325
Comparing USB Ports 325
I Vote for FireWire 326
Or Do You Just Need a Hub? 327
Installing a Port Card 328
Chapter 15: Pumping Up Your Sound and Video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .331
Sound Card Features to Covet 331
3-D spatial imaging 331
Surround sound support 332
MP3 hardware support 332
Game and FireWire ports 333
MIDI ports 333
Shopping for a Monster Graphics Card 334
Pray, what slot do you need? 334
Exploring the differences between chipsets 334
Other video card features that you’ll want 335
Installing Sound and Video Cards 336
Part IV: Home Networking 339
Chapter 16: Do I Really Need a Network? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .339
Discovering the Advantages of a Network 339
File transfer 339
Sharing that there Internet 340
One word: Games! 340
Shared documents and applications 341
Table of Contents
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What Can I Connect To? 342
What Hardware Do I Need? 343

What Software Do I Need? 343
To Network or Not to Network . . . 344
Chapter 17: Ethernet to the Rescue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .345
A Quickie Ethernet Primer 345
Hardware That You’ll Need 346
Cables 347
Hubs 348
NICs 348
Switches 349
Heck, let’s buy a kit! 349
Doing the Cable Dance 350
Configuring Windows XP for Your Network 350
Ah, sweet DHCP 351
Browsing the neighborhood 354
Sharing folders and documents 356
Printing across the Network 357
Using a Standard Hub with a Cable or DSL Modem 360
Troubleshooting Your Network 360
Windows XP doesn’t recognize my NIC 361
No lights show up on my network card(s) or hub 361
Nothing shows up when I browse 362
I can’t connect (or print) to a shared printer 362
Chapter 18: Going Wireless . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .365
Understanding Wireless Networking 365
How does wireless compare with wired? 365
The standards involved 367
AC and phone line networking 370
Ensuring Security on Your Wireless Network 371
Using Wireless Hardware in Windows XP 372
Preparing to install 372

Installation tricks 373
Making the connection 374
Chapter 19: Sharing Your Internet Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .377
Why Share Your Internet Connection? 377
Sharing through Software in Windows XP 378
Sharing through Hardware 380
Wired sharing devices 380
Wireless sharing devices 383
Why You Need NAT 385
The Magic of Virtual Private Networking 386
Book III: The Internet 389
Part I: Going Online with an ISP 391
Chapter 1: Hooking Up with the Right Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .391
Selecting an Internet Service Provider (ISP) 391
Broadband or Dial-Up? 392
Choosing an ISP to Host Your Web Site 393
Windows XP GigaBook For Dummies
xvi
Chapter 2: Managing Your Online Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .395
Preventing Viruses from Infecting Your Computer 395
Maintaining a Kid-Friendly PC 396
Supervising kids’ access 396
Using filtering software 396
Screening Web Content with the Content Advisor 397
Chapter 3: America Online . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .401
Installing AOL 401
Signing On to AOL 401
A Short Geography Lesson 402
Handling Incoming E-Mail 403
Reading incoming mail 403

Receiving a file 405
Managing your e-mail 405
Composing and Sending E-Mail 406
Writing an e-mail 406
Replying to and forwarding messages 407
Sending a file 407
Maintaining an Address Book 407
Exploring the Internet in AOL 408
Part II: Getting Caught in the World Wide Web 411
Chapter 4: Browsers and What They Do . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .411
ABCs of the Web 411
Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) 412
Finding Your Way around the Web 413
Getting Started with Internet Explorer 414
Launching Internet Explorer 415
Accessing a Web site 415
Elements of the Internet Explorer window 416
The Explorer bar 417
The toolbars 418
Searching the Web 419
Starting the search 419
Limiting your searches 420
Browsing in full screen mode 420
Displaying Previously Viewed Web Pages 421
Keeping Track of Your Favorite Web Sites 422
Adding Web pages to your Favorites folder 422
Viewing pages from the Favorites folder 423
Organizing your favorites 423
Viewing Pages from the History Folder 425
Chapter 5: Customizing Your Browser Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .427

Changing Your Home Page 427
Changing the Way Web Pages Look 428
Changing the text size 428
Selecting a different font 428
Changing the text and background colors 429
Changing the way your browser displays hyperlinks 430
Customizing Toolbars 431
Changing the size of toolbars 431
Hiding and unhiding a toolbar 432
Adding a button to the toolbar 432
Table of Contents
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Active Channels and Active Desktop Items 432
Adding Active Channels or Active Desktop Items 433
Viewing channels with the Channels folder 434
Removing an Active Channel or Active Desktop Item 434
Changing the History Settings 435
Specifying Mail, News, and Internet Call Programs 435
Speeding Up the Display of Web Pages 437
Synchronizing Offline Web Pages 437
Customizing Your AutoComplete Settings 439
Chapter 6: Printing and Saving Web Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .441
Printing a Web Page 441
Saving a Web Page on Your Computer 443
Saving a Web Graphic on Your Computer 444
Copying Web Page Information 444
Viewing the HTML Source of a Web Page 446
Wallpapering Your Desktop with a Web Graphic 446
Part III: E-Mail 449
Chapter 7: E-Mail Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .449

Choosing an E-Mail Program 449
Abbreviations and Acronyms 449
E-Mail Addresses 450
What’s my address? 451
Host names and domain names 451
IP addresses and the DNS 452
Top-level domains 452
Port numbers 453
URLs versus e-mail addresses 453
Chapter 8: Sending and Receiving E-Mail with Outlook Express . . . . . . . . . . . . . .455
Checking for New Mail 455
Setting Outlook Express to check for mail 455
Reading e-mail 456
Replying to a message 457
Forwarding a message 457
Composing E-Mail Messages 458
Drafting a message 458
Attaching a file to an e-mail message 459
Adding an image to your message 460
Formatting Your Messages 460
Rich Text (HTML) messages versus Plain Text messages 460
Adding bold, italics, underline, and color to your text 461
Changing the font type and font size 461
Sending an E-Mail Message 462
Printing a Message 462
Chapter 9: Organizing E-Mail Addresses and Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .463
Organizing Your Messages with Folders 463
Creating a new folder 464
Moving e-mail into a folder 464
Organizing your e-mail with the Rule Editor 464

Deleting and compacting your e-mail 465
Deleting and renaming folders 466
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Adding Entries to Your Address Book 466
Creating a new address 467
Importing addresses from somewhere else 468
Finding a recipient’s e-mail address 469
Chapter 10: Mailing Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .471
Addresses Used with Mailing Lists 471
Finding a Mailing List 472
Subscribing and Unsubscribing 472
Lists maintained manually 473
Lists maintained automatically 473
Web-based lists 474
Sending Messages to a Mailing List 474
Special Requests to Mailing Lists 474
Archives 474
Subscriber list 474
Privacy 475
Going on vacation 475
Open and Closed Mailing Lists 475
Receiving Digested Mailing Lists 476
Using Filters 476
Starting Your Own Mailing List 476
Part IV: Other Online Communications 479
Chapter 11: Chatting Online . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .479
Chatting Online 479
Following group conversations 480
Safe chatting guidelines 481

Internet Relay Chat (IRC) 481
Starting IRC 482
Picking a server 482
Issuing IRC commands 482
IRC channels 483
Types of channels 483
Starting your own channel 484
Filing a complaint 484
Getting more info 484
Chapter 12: Instant Messaging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .485
AOL Instant Messenger 485
Becoming a registered user 485
Engaging in a chat session 486
Adding and deleting buddies on your Buddy List 487
Yahoo! Messenger 487
Logging on to Yahoo! Messenger 487
Adding and deleting friends 487
Engaging in a chat session 487
MSN Messenger 488
Logging on to MSN Messenger 488
Engaging in a chat session 488
Adding and deleting buddies 488
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Chapter 13: Keeping Up to Date with News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .491
Newsgroup Basics 491
Newsgroup “netiquette” 492
Newsgroup names 492
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) 493
Posting articles to newsgroups 493

Reading Newsgroups with Google 494
Google and Usenet indexes 495
Searching Google Groups 495
Replying to an article 496
Posting a new article 496
Reading Newsgroups with Outlook Express 496
Viewing newsgroup messages before you subscribe 496
Subscribing to a newsgroup 497
Unsubscribing from a newsgroup 498
Part V: Creating Web Pages 499
Chapter 14: Getting Started with Web Publishing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .499
Guidelines for Creating a Successful Web Site 499
Basic Steps for Creating a Web Site 500
Step 1: Planning your Web site 500
Step 2: Creating your Web pages 500
Step 3: Publishing your Web pages 501
What to Include on Every Web Site 501
Home page 501
Site map 501
Contact information 501
FAQ 502
Related links 502
What to Include on Every Page 502
Title 502
Navigation links 502
Author and copyright information 502
Organizing the Content 503
Sequential organization 503
Hierarchical organization 503
Combination sequential and hierarchical organization 504

Web organization 505
Finding Space for Your Web Site 505
Internet service providers 505
Online services 505
Free Web servers 506
Chapter 15: Elements of Web Page Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .507
HTML Basics 507
Specifying Font Settings 508
Entering Headings 509
Formatting Text 510
Alignment 510
Bold 510
Italic 510
Color 511
Creating Lists 511
Bulleted lists 511
Numbered lists 512
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Inserting Horizontal Rules 512
Specifying Page Settings 513
Screen size considerations 513
Page length 513
Page layout 513
Working with Backgrounds 514
Setting the background color 514
Using a background image 515
Adding Links 515
Using text links 515
Using graphic links 516

Linking within the same page 516
Chapter 16: Working with Graphics, Sounds, and Videos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .517
File Formats for Image, Sound, and Video 517
Image file formats 517
Sound file formats 518
Video file formats 519
Working with Graphics 519
Inserting a graphic 520
Using image maps 520
Adding Sounds 523
Inserting a link to a sound file 524
Embedding a sound file 524
Using background sounds 524
Working with Videos 525
Inserting a link to a video file 525
Embedding a video 525
Chapter 17: Publishing on the Web . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .527
Previewing Your Web Pages 527
Using the Web Publishing Wizard 527
Understanding FTP 529
The Windows 95/98/XP FTP Client 529
FTP command summary 531
Promoting Your Web Site 531
Part VI: Can’t-Miss Stops on the Internet 533
Chapter 18: Finding Your Way with Google . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .533
Basic Search Techniques with Google 533
Conducting a Good Search 534
Advanced Searching Techniques 535
Using the Google Toolbar 536
Installing the Google toolbar 536

Using the Google toolbar 536
Chapter 19: Getting Bargains on eBay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .539
Registering with eBay 539
Signing In to Your My eBay Page 540
Searching for Items of Interest 541
A straight search 541
Browsing eBay categories 542
Browsing to and searching a single category 543
Saving searches, categories, and sellers/stores 544
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A Few Rules to Live By 544
Bidding on Items 545
How bidding works 545
Placing a bid 547
Strategies for successful bidding 547
Closing the Sale 548
Chapter 20: Planning Your Next Vacation Online . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .549
Researching a Destination 549
Deciding where to go and what to see 549
Finding out how to get there 550
Weather and road conditions 551
Online Travel Services 552
Visiting an all-purpose travel site 552
Booking a hotel or motel room 553
Traveling by rail 553
Resources for Traveling Abroad 554
Eccentric Sites for Eccentric Travelers 555
Chapter 21: Researching Investments Online . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .557
Getting Lessons on How to Invest 557

Researching a Company Online 559
Reading the Financial News 560
Major news services 560
Financial newspapers and magazines 561
Online newsletters 562
Researching Mutual Funds and Stocks on the Internet 562
Researching a mutual fund on the Internet 563
Researching stocks on the Internet 564
Chapter 22: Listening to the Music . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .567
Why Not Get Music for Free? 567
Touring Online Music Stores 569
Book IV: Office 2003 and Money 2004 571
Part I: Word 2003 573
Chapter 1: Entering, Editing, and Formatting Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .573
Getting Acquainted with Word 573
Creating a New Document 575
Speedy Ways to Open Documents 576
All about Saving Documents 576
Changing the Font and Size of Text 576
Spell Checking a Document 578
Chapter 2: Speed Techniques for Using Word . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .581
Getting a Better Look at Your Documents 581
Viewing documents in different ways 581
Zooming in, zooming out 583
Working in two places in the same document 583
Selecting Text in Speedy Ways 585
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