Following are some additional offline browsing tips that weren't included in the book (didn't want to throw too much at you right away). If you want to fine tune your offline browsing experience, some of these tips may be helpful.
To effectively run Internet Explorer offline in Windows 3.1, you should download and install Internet Explorer 4.0+ for Windows 3.1. To work offline, first log onto the Internet and run Internet Explorer, then select File and Work Offline. Internet Explorer will now start in offline mode (will not prompt you to log onto the Internet), until you select the Work Offline option again (to uncheck it).
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The method provided here for running Netscape Navigator in Windows 3.1 has been tested to work with Trumpet Winsock Version 2.0b (your dialer to connect to the Internet) and Netscape Navigator 3.02 or earlier. I can't guarantee if this method, or any variant of it, will work with other winsocks or other versions of Trumpet Winsock.
To run Netscape Navigator offline, just double-click the Navigator icon, without first running Trumpet Winsock to connect to the Internet. At the pop-up window, saying "Netscape was unable to create a network socket connection...," just click the OK button. In Navigator, to open and view a local HTML file, select File, then Open File from the menu bar. To run Navigator online, just first run Trumpet Winsock to connect to the Internet, then run Navigator.
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Specifying a blank or local home (or start) page in Navigator or Internet Explorer is a good way to streamline browsing offline. The main benefit of doing this is that, when running your browser before having logged onto the Internet, you won't be prompted with a pop-up message telling you that your browser can't connect to its specified home page.
To have Navigator use a blank page as its default home page, select Options, General Preferences, and the Appearance tab. Select the Blank Page radio button to have Navigator start with a blank page.
To have Navigator use a local HTML file, such as your bookmark file, for instance, as its default home page, just select File, Open Pages to open C:\NETSCAPE\BOOKMARK.HTM in Navigator, highlight the local URL in the Location box and copy it to the Clipboard (Ctrl+C). Next, select Options, General Preferences, and the Appearance tab. Make sure the Home Page Location radio button is selected, then paste (Ctrl+V) the local URL into the Starts with box.
To have Navigator use a blank page as its default home page, select Edit and Preferences. Select the Blank Page radio button to have Navigator start with a blank page.
To have Navigator use a local HTML file, such as your bookmark file, for instance, as its default home page, just select File, Open Pages to open BOOKMARK.HTM from your user folder (under \PROGRAM FILES\NETSCAPE\USERS\). Next, select Edit and Preferences, then click the Use Current Page button.
In this version of Internet Explorer, there is no option in the preferences for using a blank page as your start page. What you can do, however, is create your own blank page using Notepad, then specify it in Internet Explorer as your default start page. Just create and save this file in Notepad as BLANK.HTM: <HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE>My Blank Page</TITLE> </HEAD> <BODY> </BODY> </HTML>
Then, in Internet Explorer, open BLANK.HTM (select File, Open, and Browse, then go to the folder where you saved BLANK.HTM and open it into Internet Explorer). Next, in I.E. 3.0, select View, Options, and the Start and Search Pages tab; in I.E. 3.02, select View, Options, and the Navigation tab. Click the Use Current button.
Tip: If you have both Internet Explorer and Navigator installed, nothing stops you from specifying your Navigator bookmark file as your default start page in Internet Explorer.
To specify a blank page as your default start page, select View and Internet Options. Click the Use Blank button.
To specify a local page as your default start page, first open the local page in Internet Explorer (File, Open, and Browse), then select View and Internet Options. Click the Use Current button.
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Versions 4.0+ of both Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer allow you to switch between offline and online modes of operation.
In Navigator 4.05 and 4.5, just select File and Go Offline. To return to online mode, just select File and Go Online. Note, however, that in Navigator 4.05, switching to offline mode does not carry over to the next time you run Navigator. In Navigator 4.5, you'll get a pop-up message when you rerun Navigator, telling you that you're in offline mode.
In Internet Explorer 4.0+, just select File and Work Offline. In I.E. 4.0+, offline mode carries over to any following sessions, until you select Work Offline again to uncheck it.
Note: I personally don't bother to use the Go Offline or Work Offline options in Navigator or Internet Explorer. I prefer to just specify a local or blank home or start page.
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