Summing Up
In this lesson, you learned how to use Internet Explorer 10 to browse and search the web.
✓ To visit a certain website, type its URL (address) into the Address bar.
✓ Click a hyperlink to follow it to another page or to a different spot on the same page. Use the Back button to return to the previous page.
✓ To set your home page, open the Internet Options dialog box and spec- ify the page on the General tab.
✓ To open a new tab, press Ctrl+T or click the small blank tab to the right of the existing tabs. To close a tab, right-click the tab and choose Close from the menu that appears.
✓ You can type keywords to search for directly into the Address bar; IE will use your default search provider.
✓ To save the current page as a favorite, click the Favorites button and then click Add to Favorites.
✓ The IE Windows 8 app, accessed from the Start screen, is different from the desktop version of IE accessed from the desktop’s taskbar.
✓ Many pages save cookies to your hard disk. To control cookie policy, open the Internet Options dialog box and click the Privacy tab.
✓ An InPrivate browsing session saves no record of your surfing. To start one, click Tools, point to Safety, and click InPrivate Browsing.
✓ Set a security level for each of the four zones on the Security tab in the Internet Options dialog box.
Figure 5-35
Know This Tech Talk
Know This Tech Talk
compact privacy policy: Information about how a website uses cookies.
The information is delivered along with the web page, in a format that the browser software can read and interpret.
cookie: A plain text file stored on your hard drive that contains informa- tion about previous interactions you had with a particular website.
encryption: The process of scrambling data before it’s sent out on a net- work, in order to prevent snooping.
favorites: Stored URL shortcuts, also called bookmarks.
Favorites Center: The section of IE from which you can view and manage bookmarks, as well as news feeds and your browsing history.
first-party cookie: A cookie created by a website you visit. Compare to third-party cookie.
History list: A record of all websites visited during a certain time frame.
home page: The page that loads automatically each time you open your browser. Also called the start page. A second meaning is the main page of a multipage website.
hyperlink: An active link that, when clicked, opens a different web page or jumps to a different spot on the same page.
Internet: A network of millions of private, public, academic, business, and government networks.
keyword: A word that you search for to find specific content.
malware: A very broad term meaning any kind of undesirable software that could compromise your privacy or security or damage your com- puter’s software or hardware.
persistent cookie: A cookie that remains after the browser is closed.
search engine: A website or utility that displays a list of matching web- sites from a computer-compiled database in response to a keyword search.
secure site: A website that employs some type of encryption technology.
security certificate: A unique code that provides an assurance that the site you’re communicating with is legitimate.
session cookie: A cookie that expires when you close the browser.
third-party cookie: A cookie created by an advertiser on a website you visit. Compare to first-party cookie.
URL: Stands for uniform resource locator. A web address.
web page: An HTML-based document available at a given web address.
website: A collection of related web pages on the same server.
World Wide Web: A network of hyperlinked documents on the Internet.
Also called the web.
Lesson 6
Networking Your PCs
✓ Determine whether you’re already part of a network and what networking hardware you have.
✓ Set up the security features on a wireless router.
✓ Create a HomeGroup to simplify file and printer sharing on a small network.
✓ Browse the network resources that others have shared.
✓ Share libraries and other folders, and configure net- work sharing settings.
✓ Share a local printer with others, and set up your PC to use network-aware printers.
✓ Stream video or music to other PCs in your network.
2 . How do I prevent people from using my router to get Internet access without my permission?
Lock that router down with security encryption, described
on page ... 198
3 . Any tips for improving the signal strength on my wireless network?
You betcha. Check out page ... 202
4 . How do I create a HomeGroup?
Come on home to page ... 202
5 . How can I create a shortcut to get back to a shared network location in a hurry?
Map the folder as a network drive. Learn how on page ... 207
6 . Can I watch videos and listen to music that are stored on someone else’s PC?
Yes you can. Streaming is the key: Unlock it on page ... 219
W hen you install Windows 8, the setup utility does its best to configure a network connection for you automatically, including a connection to the Internet if one is available. That means you probably already have a network and Internet connection before you even start this chapter. If you don’t — or if you aren’t sure — don’t sweat it. This chapter will help you get going with both your local area net- work and your Internet connection.
Assessing Your Existing Network
Networking: it’s a good thing, to borrow a phrase from Martha Stewart. Networked computers can share files and printers with one another, and can share an Internet connection. You can also use your network to share music and video files between computers, transfer TV shows from your home theater system to your PC (with the right software to do so), and access your hand- held and gaming devices from your computers.
Your computer may already be connected to a network. If you already have Internet connectiv- ity on your PC, and there are multiple PCs in your household that all share that connection, then your network is already good to go.
Take a moment to identify your current net- working and Internet equipment. Find your broadband modem, to start with: that’s the box with the flashing lights that delivers your Internet service (via cable, DSL, satellite, or
some other method). The broadband modem is probably connected to another box, also with flashing lights. That’s the router. Sometimes the router and the broadband modem are a single, dual-purpose device, so you might not have two separate boxes.
LINGO
A network is a group of connected computers. When connected computers are in the same room, or the same building, they’re part of a local area network (LAN) .
LINGO
A broadband modem is a device provided by your Internet provider (usually cable or DSL) that inter- faces with your phone or cable line so you can use it for Internet connectivity.
Each of your computing devices connects to the router, either with a cable (wired access) or wirelessly. If you have a wired connec- tion, then you have an Ethernet cable that plugs into your computer. An Ethernet cable, used for wired Ethernet connections, looks like a telephone cable but it’s thicker, and the plug is slightly wider. See Figure 6-1. The other end of the cable looks the same, and plugs into your router.
Figure 6-1
(Photo by David Monniaux)
A wireless connection connects to a wireless router via radio waves. It may not be obvi- ous from your computer’s hardware whether it has wireless networking capability, so you have to look at Windows itself to determine this.
Look in the notification area for a Network icon, and then point the mouse at it to see a pop-up message telling you your current connection status. If it’s a wired network, it appears as shown in Figure 6-2; if it’s a wireless network, it appears with five stair-stepped bars on it, as shown in Figure 6-3. The more white bars, the stronger the connection.
Figure 6-2
LINGO
Ethernet is the most common technology used for home and business networking. It can be wired or wireless, but the term is most often used to refer to wired connections.
A router is an intelligent traffic- routing box into which the com- puters in the network all connect.
LINGO
Wi-Fi is a shorthand way of refer- ring to the type of wireless technol- ogy that computers commonly use for networking and Internet. The more precise name for the technol- ogy is IEEE 802.11. There are other types of wireless network connec- tions besides Wi-Fi, such as infra- red (IrDA) and Bluetooth, but they aren’t usually used for Internet or for sharing files and printers with other computers.
Figure 6-3
Assessing Your Existing Network
Point to the icon and read the tooltip, as in Figures 6-2 and 6-3. You may see one of these messages:
✓ Internet Access: You have an Internet connection.
✓ No Internet Access: You have local network access but no Internet. That probably means you don’t have an Internet service hooked up to your router, or that the one you have isn’t working.
✓ Not connected – Connections are available: There are wireless net- works available, but you haven’t connected to one yet. Along with this message, you may see a star on the network icon.
✓ Not connected – No connections are available: Your computer can’t find any networks to connect to. There may not be any, or your comput- er’s wireless network adapter may be disabled or malfunctioning. Along with this message, you may see a red X on the network icon.
For a wired connection, there’s no need to do anything to enable the con- nection in Windows; the connection begins when you plug in the cable. For a wireless network, you must connect to the network — at least the first time.
You can indicate that you want this connection to be reestablished automati- cally whenever you’re in that network’s range, so you have to manually con- nect only once.
In this exercise, you will connect to a wireless network. Connecting to a Wi-Fi router when a connection is available, and when your PC recognizes connec- tions are available, is quite easy.