At 08:34 AM 04/12/2000 , Demetri Kolokotronis wrote: >I have seen web addresses listed > >http://www.domain.com >http://domain.com >www.domain.com >http://www.domain.com/ > >Make any difference entering in Internet Explorer Address bar? Does it make a difference? It depends upon the system administrator servicing the domain. The web browser, either Netscape or Internet Explorer does not require the http:// extension to be typed into the address bar. This is the default protocol for a web browser, remember that HTTP and FTP are the two major download protocols of the Internet and FTP:// also works in your web browser. These two protocols are used to download data across the Internet, but HTTP is the default for a web browser and the assumed protocol when you type in a web address for either a domain, web page or file. So, it is not necessary to be added. Now, about the WWW pre-extension. This has nothing to do with the way in which a DOMAIN is registered with Internic, but about how it is setup by the System Administrator for the server hosting the domain. The Internet only knows through the DNS system, (Domain Name System), the site of where the Domain is located, physically located on the Internet, the DNS server that controls the domain, for this discussion we will use NOSPIN.COM. The system administrator can assign any sub-domain naming scheme to the domain, but these are typical: WWW.NOSPIN.COM points to the web server FTP.NOSPIN.COM points to the ftp server MAIL.NOSPIN.COM points to the mail server NEWS.NOSPIN.COM points to the USENET news server NOSPIN.COM can be pointed to any or none of these servers, based on the decision of the System Administrator in charge of the Domain. We have been pointing NOSPIN.COM to our web server for about five years now and we have noticed that it is becoming a more popular domain configuration these days. So, in our case: http://nospin.com points to our web server, but that is determined by the System Administrator and the way our DNS server ALIASES our DOMAIN. So... the final answer is: HTTP:// is not required by Internet Explorer. The WWW sub-domain prefix may or may not be required to open a web site, depending upon way the web site is setup. If you try going to a web site with just the DOMAIN, such as NOSPIN.ORG and it does not work, then add in the WWW, to: www.nospin.org and that should take you to the web server for that domain. I know this is simplistic, but for this discussion I hope it explains the issues involved. Bob Wright The NOSPIN Group PCSOFT's List Owner's: Bob Wright<[log in to unmask]> Drew Dunn<[log in to unmask]>