The internet is a huge, wondrous world, but are you using it effectively?
From browser choices to shortcut keys that save you time, we offer tips so you can get the best out of your internet usage.
Many people using Windows PCs will make use of the default browser that comes included with the computer (Internet Explorer or Edge). However, third party browsers such as Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox are also extremely popular and may give you a noticeable increase in browsing performance.
Always ensure the website you are browsing is secure by looking in the address bar for a padlock symbol and ‘https’ at the start of the address (http without the ‘s’ is an unsecure site). Also, if your search engine or browser advises that the website you wish to visit has an outdated SSL certificate, we do not advise proceeding.
Sadly, even legitimate websites can be compromised. It was recently revealed that some government websites had been infected with malicious software that could affect a visitor’s computer. The message for us all is to always be vigilant and ensure you use IT security products from leading vendors.
While reading an article or browsing a website, you may come across a link that interests you. Any link to another page can be opened in a new tab so it does not interrupt your reading. To perform this action, hold down the Ctrl key and left-click the link. If you have a mouse with a wheel, click the link by depressing the wheel instead of rolling it. Either of these methods opens a link in a new window. If you wish to open a blank tab you can also press Ctrl+T to achieve this.
Get the most out of every search result. If you are not finding what you want, try surrounding the text in quotes. For example, if you search for IT Support without quotation marks it will return results with “IT” and “Support” anywhere on the page. However, if you search for “IT Support” with quotation marks, it will only return pages with “IT” and “Support” next to each other, which can help you pinpoint the information you are looking for.
When entering a web address, you do not need to type http:// or even www. For example, if you wanted to visit Vantage IT, you could just type vantageit.co.uk and press enter.
To make things even quicker, if you are visiting a .com address you can type just the first part of the domain name (e.g Microsoft) and then press Ctrl+Enter to fill out the rest. e.g https://www.microsoft.com
There are various shortcut keys that can be used in the popular browsers. Here are just a few of them:
| Alt+D or Ctrl+L | Move the cursor into the address bar |
| Hold down Ctrl and press the + or – | Zoom in or zoom out |
| Ctrl+0 | Reset zoom to default |
| Backspace key or Alt+left arrow | Go back a page |
| F5 or Ctrl+R | Refresh or reload a web page |
| F11 | Make internet browser screen full screen |
| F11 for a second time | Return to the normal view |
| Ctrl+B | Open your internet bookmarks |
| Ctrl+F | Open the find box to search for text within the web page you are reading |
If you are filling out an online form, e-mail, or other text field, you can quickly move between each of the fields by pressing the Tab key or Shift+Tab to move back a field.
It may seem obvious, but the faster the PC, the better your browsing experience. Important things to look out for are a fast processor (Intel Core i5 and above) and plenty of memory (4GB and above).
An internet browser can have many plugins that give it additional functionality, for example Adobe Flash. However, your IT security could be at risk unless you regularly update these. PatchSafe from Vantage IT Solutions automates this process for you.
We hope these internet browsing tips prove to be useful. If you require help or more information from Vantage IT, please contact us.
