Taking a Look at the PowerToys for Internet Explorer 4.0

If you've used the PowerToys for Windows 95 and found them as invaluable as we did, you'll definitely want to investigate the PowerToys Microsoft designed for Internet Explorer 4.0. (As with the Windows 95 version, Microsoft doesn't officially support the Internet Explorer PowerToys.) This set of utilities enhances the already impressive list of features in Microsoft's latest browser. You can download these PowerToys, which come in a self-installing 235KB file called Ie4power.exe, from www.microsoft.com/ie/ie40/powertoys/main.htm. The package adds seven utilities to Internet Explorer 4.0. Let's take a look at each.

Open Frame in New Window

If you get tired of looking at Web pages with frames, you can take them apart with the Open Frame in New Window PowerToy. Just right-click anywhere in the frame you're interested in and select Open Frame in New Window from the shortcut menu.

Quick Search

When you want to search the Internet for a topic, you probably first go to one of the search engine sites, type your query in the search form, and await the results. However, Quick Search simplifies the process by turning Internet Explorer's Address text box into a search form. You type a site's shortcut (Quick Search provides you with an extensive list of site shortcuts when you click the Quick Search.exe button on the Links toolbar) followed by the text you want to search for. After you press [Enter], Internet Explorer will display the search results. For example, to initiate a search on the AltaVista site for Toshiba, you'd fill in the Address text box as shown in Figure A.

Figure A: You type a site shortcut along with a keyword in the Address text box to activate the Quick Search PowerToy.

Zoom In/Zoom Out

Have you ever wished that you could get a closer look at a graphic image on a Web site? If so, you're going to love the Zoom In/Zoom Out PowerToy. All you have to do is right-click an image and select Zoom In or Zoom Out from the shortcut menu.

Image Toggle

If you're tired of waiting for graphics to load, you can click the Toggle Images.exe button on the Links toolbar to turn off all graphics. When you do, Web pages will open quickly without displaying any of the graphic images. If you decide that you do want to see graphic images after the page loads, click the button again to toggle the images on.

Text Highlighter
If you use a colored highlighter to mark text in books and magazines, you'll find the Highlighter PowerToy to be a handy feature. When you're reading through a long Web page and come across a sentence you want to refer to later, just select the sentence, right-click it, and choose Highlight from the shortcut menu.

Web Search

Searching the Web is a breeze with the Web Search utility. When you're viewing a page and see a word you want more information on, simply highlight the word, right-click it, and choose

Web Search from the shortcut menu. When you do, the default search engine will scan the Web for pertinent information, and another Internet Explorer window will open to display the results.

Links List

Web sites usually contain hundreds of links. You can use the Links List feature to see all the links on any given page. Just right-click anywhere on the page and select Links List from the shortcut menu. You'll then see a new window with a list of all the links on the page, as shown in Figure B. At this point, you can navigate the site by clicking on any link.

Figure B: The Links List PowerToy allows you to easily navigate a Web site.

If you like the Internet Explorer PowerToys but need a customized operation, you can write your own PowerToy. For more information on how to do so, read the article "Adding to the Internet Explorer 4.0 Standard Context Menus" on the Microsoft Internet Explorer Web site at www.microsoft.com/ie/ie40/powertoys/Contextm.htm.

If you downloaded the Internet Explorer PowerToys last year, you'll want to replace your version with the new one. During the 1997 holidays, Microsoft pulled the PowerToys from the Web site and fixed several problems.

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