When your computer is connected to the Internet you are “online”. When it is disconnected, you are “offline”. Many people use the same telephone line for the Internet as well as talking. When sharing the same line, it is important not to tie it up or hog it, so getting your work done quickly, and working offline, makes the experience more enjoyable for everyone, especially for the people who want to use the phone line for its original purpose.
There are many ways to make the Internet work for you while disconnected from it.
SAVE WEB PAGE
If you find a web page you want to take more time to read and consider than just the time tying up the phone line, or you want to save the information for research or to show someone else, you can simply save the web page like you do any document you are working on.
1. On the Menu, click FILE, SAVE AS
2. If desired, type in a name that will help you remember what the web page is about. It doesn’t matter what you call it, just use alphanumeric characters, spaces allowed now.
3. Put it where you will find it. Just as you should with your documents, create folders and a place to save your web pages so you can find them later.
4. Click SAVE and you are done.
Through Windows Explorer, find the page you saved,double click it, and it will open up in Internet Explorer. If awindow pops up asking you to CONNECT to the Internet, choose WORK OFFLINE.
SAVING PAGE AS FAVORITE
Your Favorites List has another function which allows you tosave a web page offline for reading later. In the ADD FAVORITES window, near the top you will find a check box and the instructions “MAKE AVAILABLE OFFLINE”. By clicking the check box and clicking OKAY, you will save the web page right then and there for viewing offline.
To view the page, just select it from your Favorites List. Click WORK OFFLINE if the window pops up asking you to CONNECT to the Internet.
UPDATE FAVORITE SAVED WEB PAGES
If you are an avid reader of, say, the Jerusalem Post or New York Times front pages, you can add those to your Favorites List and check them to MAKE AVAILABLE OFFLINE. Every day, or when you want, you can update those pages so they give you the latest information.
1. From the Internet Explorer Menu, click TOOLS, SYNCHRONIZE
2. A window will come up listing the web pages you have marked to MAKE AVAILABLE OFFLINE
3. Select which ones you would like to update on that list by checking the check box. Note that the time and date of the last update is listed to the side.
4. The PROPERTIES button will help you to customize each page and how it is updated.
5. The SETUP button helps you customize the process of updating.
6. Click SYNCHRONIZE when you are ready to go.
7. Dependent upon the number of pages you are synchronizing (updating) it could take some time. Internet Explorer will download those pages several at a time, a process faster than you could do visiting the pages one at a time, but it can still take several minutes to complete the process.
8. When it is finished, disconnect from the Internet and read the pages at your leisure.
SAVE GRAPHICS
There are many graphics on the web which you may want to save for various reasons. I’m a big fan of the images coming from space, particularly the Hubble telescope. I like saving those pages to use on my computer as wallpaper (the pretty picture you see when you start your computer) and also as screen savers. As long as you are using a graphic for personal use, they are free to use.
To save a graphic:
1. Right Click over the graphic you wish to save.
2. Select SAVE PICTURE AS or SAVE AS WALLPAPER (which automatically replaces your wallpaper with that graphic).
3. In the SAVE AS window, type in a name that will help you remember what the graphic is, and select which directory and where on your computer you want to save the file so you can find it again.
4. Click SAVE.
TIP: Worried about space on your computer’s hard drive. If you are worried about space, and want to know the size of the graphic before you download it, right click on it, and click PROPERTIES. It will give you a window with more information about the graphic including the size.