Finkelstein Library Internet Basic Tutorial

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Phone: (845) 352-5700
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What can I Do on the Web?

Just about anything. It is an ACTIVE, not a PASSIVE medium...

Internet addiction affects 6 to 10 percent of the Net users in the U.S. "Onlineaholics" spend endless hours gambling, exchanging stocks, instant-messaging, playing video games, emailing, using dating services and blogging.

What can I do on the Internet?

Find information. The web contains a vast amount of information—far more than even the world's largest libraries. For example, you can read news stories and movie reviews, check airline schedules, see street maps, get the weather forecast for your city, or research a health condition. Reference sources, such as dictionaries and encyclopedias, are widely available, as are historical documents and classic literature.

Most companies, government agencies, nonprofit organizations, museums, and libraries have websites with information about their products, services, or collections. Many individuals publish websites with personal journals called blogs (short for web logs) about their hobbies and interests.

Communicate. Email is one of the most popular uses of the Internet. You can send an e‑mail message to anyone with an email address, and it will arrive almost instantly in the recipient's e‑mail inbox—even if he or she lives halfway around the world. See Getting started with email.

Instant messaging (IM) allows you to have a real-time conversation with another person or a group of people. When you type and send an instant message, the message is immediately visible to all participants. Unlike email, all participants have to be online (connected to the Internet) and in front of their computers at the same time.

Newsgroups and web-based forums allow you to participate in text-based discussions with a community of other people who are interested in the same topic. For example, if you are having trouble using a program, you could post a question in a discussion group for users of that program.

Share. You can upload (copy) pictures from your digital camera to a photo-sharing website. Invited friends and family members can then visit the website to view your photo albums.

Shop. The web is the world's biggest shopping mall. You can browse and purchase products—books, music, toys, clothing, electronics, and much more—at the websites of major retailers (usually a credit card is required). You can also buy and sell used items through websites that use auction-style bidding.

Play. You can play games of every type on the web, often against other players—no matter where they are in the world. Many games are free, and you can download others for a fee. You can also listen to Internet radio stations, watch movie clips, and download or purchase music, videos, and even some TV shows.

Connecting to the Internet

To connect your computer to the Internet, you must first sign up with an Internet service provider (ISP). An ISP provides access to the Internet, usually for a monthly fee. You sign up for an account with an ISP just as you do for telephone service or utilities. To find an ISP in your area, try looking in your telephone directory under "Internet Service Providers."

Different ISPs offer different connection types and speeds. There are two basic types of connections:

Broadband. A broadband connection is a high-speed Internet connection. With a broadband connection, you are connected to the Internet at all times and can view webpages and download files very rapidly. Two common broadband technologies are Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) and cable technology. These require a DSL or cable modem, which is often provided by your ISP.

Dial-up. A dial-up connection uses a dial-up modem to connect your computer to the Internet through a standard telephone line. Many computers come with a dial-up modem already installed. In contrast to broadband, dial-up is slower and requires you to establish a new connection each time you want to use the Internet. However, dial-up is less expensive than broadband, and in some areas might be the only option for Internet access.

Once you have an ISP and a modem, you're ready to connect to the Internet. The Connect to the Internet wizard will guide you through the steps.

How Do I Connect to the World Wide Web

What's an ISP (Internet Service Provider)?

An ISP (Internet Service Provider) is a company through which you can access the Internet. Prices and features will vary, so calling around and shopping for a good price is recommended. America Online (AOL), Cablevision and Verizon, are all examples of ISPs.Today, you can find many internet service providers for dial-up, cable, digital line "DSL" and other connections. For starters, just check the local yellow pages under Internet. Here is a list of thousands of providers: List of ISPs

Cable, DSL, fiber and satellite offer two types of speed: download and upload. Download is the highest rate at which you can receive data. Upload is the highest rate you can send data. Many factors can affect your speed including:

FiOS stands for "fiber-optic service. Verizon has attracted consumer and media attention in the area of broadband Internet access as the first major U.S. carrier to offer such a service. Verizon has also launched a television service with its fiber optic lines and is expected to become a competitor to local cable television companies over the next 10 years. At last check, Verizon FiOS is now available in most parts of Rockland County.

How much does FiOS cost?
It depends on speed tiers offered by Verizon. The approximate costs are:

5 mbps downstream / 2 mbps upstream - $39.95
15 mbps downstream / 2 mbps upstream - $49.95
30 mbps downstream / 5 mbps upstream - $199.95 [$54.95 in specific areas]

Internet service: Fiber vs. Cable vs. DSL vs. dial-up?: Consumer Reports 2006 Study

Check the ongoing monthly rate for broadband ,not just the introductory price. If you spend considerable time online, you'll probably need a broadband (cable or DSL)Internet connection to your home. Broadband offers faster connections and swifter downloads than slower, but cheaper, dial-up Internet service. But broadband service isn't predictable and uniform in performance as the term suggests.

There's no best broadband type. Availability of broadband is growing, with virtually all cable-TV companies now offering broadband Internet service and telephone companies wiring more neighborhoods for digital subscriber line (DSL) service. The best cable and DSL providers offered comparable, fairly high levels of satisfaction--while the least satisfactory of each receive mediocre or worse ratings.

But the two provider types differed in what made their best ISPs score so high. Subscribers to the better-rated cable-broadband providers are more satisfied than most DSL subscribers with the speed of their service, and with its reliability and tech support. But subscribers to the least pricey of the DSL providers were far more satisfied with their monthly bills (around $30) than were subscribers to cable broadband, who paid about $35 to $45 a month.

While most cable and DSL services reach download speeds of 3.0Mbps, Verizon's new budget DSL has a maximum downstream speed of just 768Kbps. While much slower than other broadband, basic Verizon DSL service is still 15 times faster than a dial-up connection. And because it is DSL, your connection to the Internet is always on and it doesn't tie up your phone line. While reviews say Verizon's basic DSL service is nowhere near as fast as other broadband, its low cost makes it a compelling alternative to a slower dial-up ISP like AOL or Earthlink dial-up, both of which are more expensive.

At its best, dial-up service is satisfactory. Cost is a main attraction. It certainly wasn't speed, which was muchslower for all the dial-ups than the broadband providers. In fact, the least expensive service, Juno, was among the top-rated dial-ups, while AOL, the biggest ISP, had one of the lowest overall scores. America Online (AOL) is the most popular ISP in the United States. AOL claims about 22% of the dial-up ISP market (almost 20.8 million users), yet AOL (*est. $24 per month for dial-up) receives lower scores in customer surveys on almost every ISP performance measure, including reliability, support and overall satisfaction.

Today's World Wide Web presents an ever-diversified experience of multimedia, programming languages, and real-time communication. There is no question that it is a challenge to keep up with the rapid pace of developments. The following presents a brief description of some of the more important trends to watch.

The Web has become a broadcast medium. It is possible to listen to audio and video over the Web, both pre-recorded and live. For example, you can visit the sites of various news organizations and view the same videos shown on the nightly television news. Several plug-ins are available for viewing these videos. For example, Apple's Quick Time Player downloads files with the .mov extension and displays these as "movies" in a small window on your computer screen. Quick Time files can be quite large, and it may take patience to wait for the entire movie to download into your computer before you can view it. Soon services will be available like "video on demand" similar to "pay for view" and voice communications (VOIP) to replace or supplement telephone service from your ISP.

The problem of slow download times has been answered by a revolutionary development in multimedia capability: streaming media. In this case, audio or video files are played as they are downloading, or streaming, into your computer. Only a small wait, called buffering, is necessary before the file begins to play. The RealPlayer plug-in plays streaming audio and video files. Extensive files such as interviews, speeches and hearings work very well with the RealPlayer. The RealPlayer is also ideal for the broadcast of real-time events. These may include press conferences, live radio and television broadcasts, concerts, etc. The Windows Media Player is another streaming media player. Many sites offer the option to use one player or the other.

Shockwave presents another multimedia experience. Shockwave allows for the creation and implementation of an entire multimedia display combining graphics, animation and sound.

Sound files, including music, may also be heard on the Web. It is not uncommon to visit a Web page and hear background music. Sound files are also available for downloading independent of Web page visits. Sound files of many types are supported by the Web with the appropriate plug-ins. The MP3 file format, and the choice of supporting plug-ins, is the latest music trend to sweep the Web. The once-famous famous Napster site allowed for the exchange of MP3 files but ran into copyright problems.

Live cams are another aspect of the multimedia experience available on the Web. Live cams are video cameras that send their data in real time to a Web server. These cams may appear in all kinds of locations, both serious and whimsical: an office, on top of a building, a scenic locale, a special event, and so on.

It received the highest satisfaction scores for speed, although you probably don’t need that speed unless you download full-length movies or back up your hard drive over the Internet. This service cost less, on average, than most of the cable services. And subscribing to fiber, if it’s available to you, also readies you for broadband television service as an alternative to your local cable monopoly.

If fiber-optic isn’t available, consider cable service. Cable customers as a group were more satisfied with their connection speeds than were DSL subscribers. That’s important if you often download large files or access the Internet with more than one computer at a time. Cable costs more than DSL. However, as you compare prices, consider the likely savings available by bundling cable-TV service with your Internet service, which might close or even eliminate the cost gap with DSL service.

Internet Terminology:

Learning a new field requires learning the "jargon" of the field. Terms like: podcast, ISP, cookie, website, HTTP, and download are explained. Here are some excellent glossaries of Internet terms available at these addresses:

Net Lingo

What's a web browser? YOUR WINDOW TO THE WEB!

Basic navigation

Using hyperlinks. Most webpages have dozens or even hundreds of links. To get from one page to another, click any link. However, figuring out which things on a page are links isn't always easy. Links can be text, images, or a combination of both. Text links often appear as colored and underlined, but link styles vary among websites.

Using the Recent Pages menu. If you want to get back to a page you've visited in your current session, but want to avoid repeatedly clicking the Back or Forward buttons, use the Recent Pages menu. Click the arrow next to the Forward button, and then select a page from the list.

A browser screen usually contains several different sections. Take note of them. These are similar on all browsers.

1. The Title Bar--The name of the Web site or title of the page you are viewing is found on the top left hand corner of your screen. Traditionally, this horizontal blue bar runs across the entire width of your screen. This blue bar that contains the name of the Web site is called the Title Bar. The Title Bar lets you know where you are by sharing the title of the Web site you are visiting. This bar does not take you anywhere, but it always lets you know where you are.

2. The Menu bar.

The Menu Bar is the horizontal band that contains commands and options that can be chosen. In Internet Explorer, these selections are File, Edit, View, Favorites, Tools, and Help. Clicking on each of the items in the standard Menu Bar at the top of your page will drop down a menu that is a useful way to access the many features of the Internet Explorer program. The last menu item is the Help item.

3. The Toolbar. The Toolbar is much like the Menu Bar stretching from left to right across the top of your screen just under the Address Bar. The Tool Bar contains many useful icons divided into three areas. Each of these icons has a text description of its function under the icon itself. If you do not see the text description, hold your cursor over the icon, and the function of the icon will appear. Either way, it will not take you long to associate each function with its picture. Let's become familiar with the first area which contains five icons.

Back/Forward
The first icon on the Tool Bar is the Back Icon. You will want to return to a Web page or Web site you enjoyed earlier. The Forward button will return you to square one by revisiting each page successively.

Stop and Refresh Icons
The Stop icon is located to the right of the Back and Forward arrows. Clicking the Stop icon will stop the page you have selected from downloading. This icon is especially useful. Click the Stop icon if a page is taking too long to download. What if you changed your mind and do not want to visit a page? Just click this icon. Occasionally you find that you have clicked on a wrong link. Again, use the Stop icon.

Refresh makes sure you are viewing the latest version of the current Web page. Remember one of the unique characteristics of the Internet is that it is dynamic and fluid. Information is continuously being added, and Web pages are constantly changing. It might be important to you that you are viewing the very latest information. For that reason, you have a Refresh icon. Just click the Refresh icon and your browser will reload the latest version of the page you are viewing.

Home Page Icon
In reference to this icon, home page is the Web page that your browser uses when it starts, the Web page that appears every time you open your browser. Clicking the home page icon found on the Tool Bar will take you to the specific page you have set as your browser's home page.

The location field, a white box which displays the URL (the web address) of the current document.

Scroll bars for moving through the document at right and bottom (appear whenever a document is too tall or wide for the screen).

The progress bar, at bottom, where information about the progress of a document you've chosen appears, and where the URL of a link displays.

Changing a home (starting) page

When we purchase a new computer Internet Explorer's home page will be set to the seller's preference, most often their corporate Web site. Sometimes if you use, for example, an ISP set-up disk to create a dialup or broadband account, your home page may be changed at the same time. And sometimes your home page may be set by malware (malicious software).

To change your home page to your preferred site, click Tools, and then click Internet Options. The home page controls are on the General tab.

Clicking Use current will set your home page to the currently displayed site. Clicking Use default will set your home page to an MSN portal which differs depending on your computer's regional settings. Clicking Use blank will set your home page to about:blank (an empty page).

Adding Favorites

To add a Web page that you are not viewing to your Favorites folder, click New Favorites on the Favorites menu. On the Info tab, specify a name, Uniform Resource Locator (URL) address, and any comments, and then click OK.

Exercise - Bookmark

Have you ever opened a web page only to groan as you scroll through text that seems to go on forever? How can you find the keywords you're after? This is an occasion for the Find command. In the Netscape or Firefox browser, under the Edit pull down menu, is an option called Find in this page. Internet Explorer calls it Find (on this page). The keyboard shortcut Ctrl+f (hold down the control key and tap f) works in both browsers. The Find command lets you enter a word. Each time you push the Enter/Return button on your keyboard or click the Find button, that word will be found and highlighted in the text on the web page you are reading. This makes it very easy to find the keyword you are looking for without having to scan long passages.

History

Internet Explorer History is a record of all Web sites that have been visited during a particular period of time. The default History setting is 20 days, which most people find sufficient. Generally there is no reason to change this setting for any other reason other than personal preference. Be warned though, if your History folder gets too large it may corrupt, so don't try to keep the maximum number of days in history (99 days).

In Internet Explorer 7, click Tools, click Internet Options, and then click the Settings button for Browsing History.

We can control how our browsing history is displayed in the History pane. To access the History pane in Internet Explorer 6, click the History button on the toolbar. In Internet Explorer 7, click on Tools, then Toolbars.

We can select view by date, view by site, view according to most visited sites, and viewed in order visited today. I personally find the view by date to be the most useful when searching an extended history. The ability to search in the History folder is simple yet powerful, but will only work if we type the search terms exactly as they appear on cached Web page, or in its URL or page title.

Sometimes people use their History folder as a type of pseudo-Favorites folder. This is not really a good idea. The History folder is dynamic and URLs may disappear if left unvisited for long enough (for example if you go away on holiday and do not turn on your computer for an extended period of time). The sites that you want to ensure are preserved should be saved as a Favorite (click the Favorites menu, and then select Add to Favorites).

An added benefit of saving URLs as Favorites is that you are able to export a backup of your Favorites for safe keeping, or to copy to another computer. It is not possible to export and import the History folder in this way.

First, make sure you have Links activated on your browser. The Links box may appear on the same line as the Address entry, but various versions of Internet Explorer may place it elsewhere. In some cases, it is not activated.

If the Links tab is not visible, click on the browser's View menu item, select Toolbars, and make sure Links is checked.

Once you do that, locate it on your browser toolbar, and you're ready to make instant links to your favorite sites.

Go to the site you wish to make a link to. Then click on the icon (often the italics "e" for Explorer or other icon representing the current Web site) preceding that site's Web address in the Address box. Drag the icon to a clear area in the Links toolbar.

You'll see a small box with a curved arrow pointing up and to the right as you drag the icon. The arrow turns to an I-bar when you are in the clear, and you can drop the Link there.

When you let go, a tab button will be created with the name of the site. Now, instead of all the steps involved in calling up bookmarks, you can simply click on the tab to immediately go to your site.

If the site name in your link is long, simply right click on the tab, click rename and shorten it. I keep my tab names as short as possible to allow up to a dozen links in a single row.

A quick tip: Find a Web site you'd like to preserve as a Favorite in an instant? With Internet Explorer, don't waste time going to the pull-down menu to click on Favorites; instead, simply press Control-D, and the page will be instantly stored.

INSTALL A FREE TOOLBAR --

There are many ways you can search the web without going directly to a search engine. These free browser toolbars provide direct access to search engines from within your browser. Most include pop-up ad blockers. Some provide free Spyware detection.

GOOGLE

YAHOO

MICROSOFT WINDOWS LIVE TOOLBAR

Each of the toolbars has a wide variety of options. The primary common feature is a search box with direct access to the search engine. Enter a query in the box, press enter, and the search results appear in the main window, just as if you had gone directly to the search engine first. The toolbar helps speed searching by leaving out that first step of having to go the search engine's Web site before starting a search.

In addition, most of the other kinds of searches available from a search engine are available via the toolbar. Ask Jeeves has additional buttons for searching pictures, news, Ask Jeeves Kids, and a dictionary. AltaVista has images, audio, video, news, U.S. Web, translation, dictionary, conversions, and more. Google offers images, groups, directory, news, Froogle, dictionary, and more.

In general, the toolbars pack in all sorts of quick links, search tools, and quick find features into a small amount of screen real estate. The problem is to find all the capabilities of the toolbar and what all the icons offer.

As a starting point, be sure to look through all the menu choices and configuration options when the toolbar is first loaded. Look for button choices and other toolbar options or configuration links. Click on the search engine logo and explore those menu options as a starting point.

Using a toolbar makes some search tasks much simpler. Instead of entering the search engine's URL or clicking on a favorite or bookmark, you just enter the query in the search box. Three toolbars—AltaVista, Google, and Dogpile—now include pop-up blockers. They have links to dictionary, phone number, thesaurus, acronym, currency, conversion, and other quick information look-up services. Highlight buttons mark the query terms in the displayed document.

Built-in Pop-Up Blocker: For those who have not found another solution to the annoyance of pop-up and pop-under ads, this feature alone may warrant loading one of these toolbars. Turned on (the default setting), the blockers prevent unrequested pop-up windows, which are usually just ads. In the event it might be actual information content, click the button and the blocker is either turned off or will now allow pop-ups from this specific site. The toolbars like to count the number blocked and emit some sound (Dogpile's barking dog is the most annoying). But the sounds can be turned off and the counters re-set through the options configuration.

The site search capability of the Google and AltaVista toolbars is also a great convenience. Visiting a Web site where you can't find the document you expected to be there? Just enter a keyword or two in the toolbar search box. Instead of clicking "Search the Web," click the arrow to the right of it to choose the "Current Site" (Google) or "This Site" (AltaVista) search. Bear in mind that the site search is limited by which pages from the site are actually in the search engine's database. A local site search may be more comprehensive, but in a surprising number of cases, the search engine site search is more accurate and comprehensive than a local site search.

The Highlight and Find in Document functions are other nice conveniences. After entering a search query in the toolbar search box, the query words also appear on the toolbar. Clicking on any of the query words in the toolbar will jump to the first occurrence of that search word in the document currently being displayed. These words will stay in the toolbar until the next search is done, so even after browsing to a results page, they can still be used. AltaVista, Dogpile, and Google toolbars all offer this Find in Document feature. Of course, it could just as easily be accomplished with a Control-F or Find in Document function of the browser, but that usually requires re-typing the word.

Highlighting the query terms is a popular option available in toolbars. The ones from AltaVista, Ask Jeeves, Dogpile, Google, Teoma, and Yahoo! all have a button for it. Sometimes, the button is a toggle. Click the button once, and all future search terms will be highlighted until the button is clicked again. For others, the highlight button must be clicked each time the highlight function is needed.

Here’s a list of the browser toolbars we recommend:

Google Toolbar
As you type a search query into the new Toolbar’s search box, you’ll see a list of useful suggestions based on popular Google searches, spelling corrections and your own Toolbar search history and bookmarks.

Yahoo! Toolbar Companion
This is the one we use! Find and uninstall programs on your PC that may be considered spyware. Stop most types of pop-up ads before they pop up.

AltaVista
The AltaVista Toolbar is free, customizable and gives you the research tools to perform searches and translations from your browser anywhere on the web. Also includes pop-up blocker.

Ask Jeeves Toolbar
Configure web pages for easy 1-page printing, using the cool ‘Zoom’ feature. Instantly email any web page to a friend. In addition to searching Ask.com, the Jeeves toolbar lets you limit your search to news, dictionary, stock market, weather, events, maps, and the Ask Jeeves Kids web sites. Includes pop-up blocker.

Dog Pile Search Toolbar
Look up residential listings from around the U.S., access business listings easily from one location. SearchSpy™ lets you watch scrolling terms to see what people are searching for in real-time.

MSN Toolbar
Search the web, start MSN Hotmail, or open MSN Messenger – all without leaving the page you’re on. Find email messages in seconds from Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express. Fill out forms and web site passwords in one click.

All Headlines News Toolbar
Features one click access to late breaking news and headlines allowing you to search the news and web from any anywhere online. A popup Blocker and instant pop-up ad eliminator is also included. THis toolbar provides fast access to search, dictionary and thesaurus.

Alexa Toolbar
Alexa could not exist without the participation of the Alexa Toolbar community. Simply by using the toolbar each member contributes valuable information about the web, how it is used, what is important and what is not. This information is returned to the community as Related Links, Traffic Rankings and more.

Ask Toolbar
Search the Web, your desktop or your email directly from your browser using the Ask Toolbar. Personalize your search experience with saved locations, your local news and read the latest news in your toolbar.

Plug-ins are small software programs that extend the capabilities of your browser by enabling it to play sounds and video clips or do other functions, such as automatically decompressing files that you download. Windows Media, Quicktime, etc.

Plug-ins may come with your browser software or can be downloaded from websites.

Some plug-ins enable streaming audio or video, which lets you hear or view a multimedia file before it has completely downloaded to your computer. Examples: Windows Media, Real Media, Adobe Acrobat

AutoComplete

Internet Explorer will automatically record Web addresses, forms data, and passwords. The first time that we fill in a Web form we will be prompted to decide whether to allow Internet Explorer to record password and form data.Whichever decision we make is easily reversible. In addition, as the Web address, password, or forms cache gets overly-large its size may impact performance. In extreme cases, any attempt to delete the cache will cause Internet Explorer to freeze.

To access the Internet Explorer AutoComplete options, click Tools, click Internet Options, and then click the Content tab. In Internet Explorer 6, click AutoComplete; in Internet Explorer 7, click Settings.

Internet Explorer 6 is slightly different to the screen pictured above. AutoComplete data is deleted in the AutoComplete Settings screen.

Internet Explorer Keyboard Shortcuts

How to View and Explore Web Pages With Shortcut Keys

To view and explore Web pages with shortcut keys:


To do this                                Press this key
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Display Internet Explorer Help or to      F1
display context Help about an item in 
a dialog box

Toggle between full-screen and other      F11
views in the browser

Move forward through the items on a       TAB 
Web page, the Address box, or the 
Links box

Move through the items on a Web page,     SHIFT+TAB
the Address box, or the Links box

Go to your Home page                      ALT+HOME

Go to the next page                       ALT+RIGHT ARROW

Go to the previous page                   ALT+LEFT ARROW or BACKSPACE

Display a shortcut menu for a link        SHIFT+F10

Move forward between frames               CTRL+TAB or F6

Move back between frames                  SHIFT+CTRL+TAB

Scroll toward the beginning of a          UP ARROW

document 

Scroll toward the end of a dot            DOWN ARROW

Scroll toward the beginning of a          PAGE UP
document in larger increments


Scroll toward the end of a document       PAGE DOWN
in larger increments


Move to the beginning of a document       HOME


Move to the end of a document             END


Find on this page                         CTRL+F


Refresh the current Web page              F5 or CTRL+R


Refresh the current Web page, even if     CTRL+F5
the time stamp for the Web version and 
your locally stored version are the same  

Stop downloading a page                   ESC

Go to a new location                      CTRL+O or CTRL+L

Open a new window                         CTRL+N

Close the current window                  CTRL+W

Save the current page                     CTRL+S

Print the current page or active frame    CTRL+P

Activate a selected link                  ENTER

Open the Search box                       CTRL+E

Open the Favorites box                    CTRL+I

Open the History box                      CTRL+H

In the History or Favorites boxes,        CTRL+click
open multiple folders

Staying Safe Online: Computer Viruses, Spam, Spyware

The best of the free security software available online didn't perform quite as well as the best for-pay programs, which offer the greatest margin of safety against any or all online threats.

But no-cost programs are worth considering as supplementary protection, or even as primary protection providing you practice safe computing and fully use the security tools built into your operating system. A few caveats, though: Compared with for-pay suites with a single interface, you'll need to manage a myriad of programs even in the best free anti malware applications. And some freeware may become for-pay eventually.

Drawn mostly from Consumer Reports test results, here's a miser's suite of security freeware, arranged by type.

Antivirus Alwil Avast Home Edition 4.7.

Antispyware/antiadware Install both Microsoft Windows Defender and SpyBot Search and Destroy 1.4.

Antispam SPAMfighter standard or Microsoft's Outlook or Windows Mail with Junk Mail Filter.

Browser security toolbar McAfee Site Advisor. Not rated, but free anti malware worth trying. See tip No. 4 in Best ways to stay safe online.

Software firewall ZoneAlarm 7.0 (Windows XP, 2000) and 7.1 (Vista).

PROTECTION SOFTWARE CONTACT INFORMATION

Alwil Software: support@avast.com; www.avast.com. Apple: 800-275-2273; www.apple.com. BitDefender: 954-776-6262; www.bitdefender.com. CA/e Trust: 888-423-1000; www.ca.com. Check Point: 877-966-5221; www.zonealarm.com. Cloudmark: online support; www.cloudmark.com. F-Secure: 866-295-2725; www.f-secure.com. Grisoft: online support only; www.free.grisoft.com. Kaspersky Labs: 781-503-1800; www.kaspersky.com. Lavasoft: online support only; www.lavasoft.com. McAfee: 866-622-3911; www.mcafee.com. Microsoft: 800-642-7676; www.onecare.live.com or www.microsoft.com. PC Tools Software: 800-764-5783; www.pctools.com. SmithMicro: 831-761-6200; www.allume.com. SPAMfighter: 561-962-4166; www.spamfighter.com. SpyBot: N/A; www.spybot.com/en. Sunbelt Software: 800-336-3166; www.sunbeltsoftware.com. Symantec: 800-441-7234; www.symantec.com. Trend Micro: 800-864-6027; www.trendmicro.com. Webroot Software: 866-612-4227; www.webroot.com.

A computer virus is a small program written to alter the way a computer operates, without the permission or knowledge of the user.

A virus must meet two criteria:
It must execute itself. It will often place its own code in the path of execution of another program.
It must replicate itself. For example, it may replace other executable files with a copy of the virus infected file. Viruses can infect desktop computers and network servers alike.

The best of the free security software programs are worth considering as supplementary protection, or even as primary protection providing you practice safe computing (see Best ways to stay safe online) and fully use the security tools built into your operating system. A few caveats, though: Compared with for-pay suites with a single interface, you'll need to manage a myriad of programs even in the best free anti malware applications. And some freeware may become for-pay eventually.

Symantec: 800-441-7234; www.symantec.com Norton Antivirus $39.99

McAfee: 866-622-3911; www.mcafee.com McAfee^® VirusScan^® Plus

Antivirus Alwil Avast Home Edition 4.7.

Antispyware/antiadware Install both Microsoft Windows Defender and SpyBot Search and Destroy 1.4.

Antispam SPAMfighter standard or Microsoft's Outlook or Windows Mail with Junk Mail Filter.

Browser security toolbar McAfee Site Advisor. Not rated, but free anti malware worth trying. See tip No. 4 in Best ways to stay safe online.

Software firewall ZoneAlarm 7.0 (Windows XP, 2000) and 7.1 (Vista). See tip No. 1 in Best ways to stay safe online.

PROTECTION SOFTWARE CONTACT INFORMATION

Alwil Software: support@avast.com; www.avast.com.
Apple: 800-275-2273; www.apple.com.
BitDefender: 954-776-6262; www.bitdefender.com.
CA/e Trust: 888-423-1000; www.ca.com.
Check Point: 877-966-5221; www.zonealarm.com.
Cloudmark: online support; www.cloudmark.com.
F-Secure: 866-295-2725; www.f-secure.com.
Grisoft: online support only; www.free.grisoft.com.
Kaspersky Labs: 781-503-1800; www.kaspersky.com.
Lavasoft: online support only; http://www.lavasoft.com.
McAfee: 866-622-3911; www.mcafee.com.
Microsoft: 800-642-7676; www.onecare.live.com or www.microsoft.com.
PC Tools Software: 800-764-5783; www.pctools.com.
SmithMicro: 831-761-6200; www.allume.com.
SPAMfighter: 561-962-4166; www.spamfighter.com.
SpyBot: N/A; www.spybot.com/en.
Sunbelt Software: 800-336-3166; www.sunbeltsoftware.com.
Symantec: 800-441-7234; www.symantec.com.
Trend Micro: 800-864-6027; www.trendmicro.com.
Webroot Software: 866-612-4227; www.webroot.com.

The odds are 1 in 3 that your computer will be infected by spyware or viruses. Spyware infections are epidemic and continuing to spread. Two free recommended anti-spyware programs are:

1. Ad-Aware.

2. Microsoft Antispyware

Trend Micro, Symantec Norton Antivirus and McAfee VirusScan are other recommended anti-virus programs with nominal costs.

Don't ever give out your password. Anybody official who needs your password already has it. Never give it out in email, chat rooms, instant messages, or over the phone. And make sure to choose a good password.

If you use Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express, you are particularly vulnerable. Free patches are available from Microsoft. Download them when available.

Use Antivirus software. Some have a “Live-Update” feature to catch the latest viruses. Norton Antivirus and McAfee VirusScan are the most popular.

Consumer Reports Rating of Antivirus Software:

BitDefender ($30)
Symantec Norton Antivirus ($30)
Kaspersky Labs ($50)
Norton Antivirus ($40)
McAfee VirusScan ($50)

Spyware?

More than 7 million people are victims of identity theft each year—or nearly 20,000 thefts a day—according to Gartner Research and Harris Interactive.

Spyware is a broad software category that covers any program that secretly tracks or records information about you, your computer use or personal information. Often these programs have the ability to report back to a central database computer on the Internet without you knowing it. Since many people now have 'always on' broadband Internet connections, it is easy for spyware software to report it's findings without you ever knowing it. Marketing is the most common reason for using it.

How would my computer get infected?
Spyware can be delivered and installed on your computer in many forms. It is sometimes included in the install package of many popular shareware programs. Sometimes forms or spyware come installed in your operating system or program directly from the manufacturer! Here are some spyware resource lists that will help you check for spyware.

Consumer Reports Rating of Anti-spyware Software:

F-Secure ($60)
Webroot ($25)
PC Tools ($30)
Trend Micro ($30)
Lavasoft Ad-Aware ($30)

CUSTOMIZING YOUR WEB CONNECTION

1. Change your starting page e.g., refdesk.com, google starting page http://www.google.com/ig

2. Add favorite websites to your computer.

3. Use links to capture frequently used pages.

4. Add a toolbar (Google or Yahoo).
http://toolbar.google.com/

5. Install virus/spyware protection.

6. Learn to Use Internet Tools to delete cache files, history, cookies, etc.

What is the web?

What can I do on the Internet?

Connecting to the Internet

How Do I Connect to the World Wide Web

Dial-Up,

DSL,

Cable

Fiber-Optic Broadband?

Internet Terminology:

How Do I Get Started?