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Click the following Firefox tips:
Firefox Intro.
How to make Firefox the Default Browser
How to create a shortcut/desktop icon that opens a web page in a different Browser
Firefox 2
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Firefox Intro.
I don’t know about you, but I’m always very wary when “surfing the net”.
I see so many infected PC’s that I don’t want to suffer the embarrassment of getting a virus/worm/spyware on my own PCs.
I was hesitant to try the alternative browser called Firefox from the Mozilla organisation because it was open-source and from the geeky sort of people that support Linux. Not from the solid reliable Microsoft Corporation.
But now I’ve been using it for several months and have had very few problems. All my internet banking sites work with it and I have only found one or two sites that don’t render quite as intended. And remember that’s because the site doesn’t conform to the standards, not because of a fault in Firefox.
Firefox is standards compliant - Internet Explorer is not. IE has errors and “extensions” that site builders have worked with and around, resulting in non compliant code that works with IE, but nothing else.
Most importantly, Firefox is a much safer browser than IE6 because it is newer and is not targeted by the malware writers because it is only used by a minority of surfers.
So now it is my browser of choice. I feel more liberated when using it, knowing that I am much less likely to be attacked.
Get it from: http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/
The next step is Linux and total freedom - no anti-virus or anti-spyware programs required! But that’s another Tip.
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How to make Firefox the Default Browser
Open Firefox,
Click Tools then Options,
When the Options box opens, click General (if not already selected),
In the centre of the box is the Default Browser section,
Click the Check Now button and then the Yes button,
Firefox will then be the default browser.
Your desktop shortcuts (and Favorites if you have them on your start menu) will now open in Firefox.
Whilst you are in the Options box, check out the other sections - there are some really useful settings there.
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How to create a shortcut/desktop icon that opens a web page in a different Browser
Suppose that you create a desktop icon that takes you directly to a web page. It will always open in your default browser (which for most people is Internet Explorer).
If you change your default browser to something safer (like Firefox) then that shortcut icon will open the page in the new browser.
But suppose that you would like to create a shortcut that always opens in Firefox. Or always opens in Internet Explorer even if you change your default to Firefox.
Well this is how to do it:
Right click on the desktop and move down to “New” then left click “Shortcut”
In the box labelled “Type the location of the item:” type the full path to the browser that you would like to use – usually one of the following:
"C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe"
"C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe"
NOTE – you must include the speech marks at beginning and end (“”)
ALSO NOTE – the path to the browser on your PC may be different – so change the above path appropriately.
Left click “Next”, then “Finish”
You will now have a new shortcut on your desktop that will have the required browser’s icon and name.
Right click on this icon and then left click on “Properties”
The “Shortcut” tab will be open and in the “Target” box the path to the browser will be highlighted.
Left click after the end of that highlighted path and type a space followed by the full path to the web page you want (speech marks not required – but you can if you like).
So the full text in the “Target” box should read something like:
"C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" http://www.pctips.org.uk
(although you will not be able to see it all at the same time without scrolling through it with the left and right arrow keys).
NOTE – There MUST be a space between the browser path and the web page address.
Left click on the “General” tab and then left click in the top box.
Delete the Browser name and type in the name of the web page instead (PCTips in this example). This must not be in speech marks.
(If you like you can go back to the “Shortcut” tab and type something into the “Comment” box – this will then appear as the floating message when you hover your mouse over the shortcut!)
Left click “OK”.
The above procedure can be adjusted to open any other sort of file with any other application – for instance a text file with Word instead of Notepad. But this will only work if the application can read that sort of file – you can open a PDF file in EXCEL for example, but it will look pretty meaningless. (Note - If the target file name contains spaces you must surround the whole name with speech marks).
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Firefox 2
If you were thinking of downloading Internet Explorer 7 “because it’s new so it must be better” then think again. I have seen so many problems (from irritating error messages to complete Windows reinstalls) caused by IE7 that I would think very carefully before downloading it.
If you want something new that IS better then download Firefox 2 from http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/
The previous version of Firefox already included tabbed browsing (new in IE7) and was much more secure than IE6. Firefox 2 improves on this with phishing protection, spell checking etc. Details here: http://en-us.www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/2.0/releasenotes/
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