Hello Everyone,

If I may, I'll attempt to clarify the confusion that has developed with
'Favorites' and possibly add some useful information. You can access your
Favorites, also referred to as 'bookmarks', normally in three places... in
Windows Explorer, from the Start Menu and probably the most used, in
Internet Explorer (IE). You can also make them available in other locations
on your computer as a Web page and even use them as your Home Page.

In IE, you can access the Favorites two ways (three if you have them set as
your Home Page). It's important to understand what you see at the top of the
screen in IE. With the exception of the Menu Bar, it's highly customizable
and you can have it show those features that you use most often and not show
those you don't use. What you see the first time you use IE (the default
settings) on a new computer, or with a fresh install of Windows, is very
basic and almost everyone changes it to some extent. Please review the short
tutorial at the first link below. The second link talks about IE 6.

Basic Browsing: Title, Menu, and Tool Bars
http://www.aarp.org/learninternet/basic_browsing/lesson2.html

Using Internet Explorer 6
http://library.albany.edu/internet/ie.html

The Favorites button (gold star icon), as I recall, is displayed in your
Tool Bar by default. This can be confusing because the Favorites option is
also part of the Menu Bar and they each display your Favorites, but in a
different way. Using the button in the Tool Bar will open Favorites in a
small window on the left side of your screen in an Explorer like view in the
same manner as the Folders button. Personally, I don't like this because it
hogs my valuable screen space. I'm 63, blind in one eye and can't see with
the other one, wear tri-focals, and still have problems seeing with my
"small" 19" screen (can't afford a bigger one), so I need all the screen
space I can get. I don't use this option. To customize the Tool Bar, right
click it and choose "Customize...". You will be presented with a dual pane
window with the current toolbar buttons shown in the right pane and the
buttons available in the left pane. Remove the buttons you don't want/use
and add the ones you want. When it's to your liking, click "Close".

The Favorites option in the Menu Bar is somewhat more convenient in that
once you click on the Favorite you want it disappears until you need it
again. You can access it using a keyboard shortcut (Alt+A) and you have the
option to "Sort by Name". Also, if you have the "Enable Personalized
Favorites Menu" option checked in Tools \ Internet Options \ Advanced tab
under "Browsing", when it opens it will only show those sites that you have
most recently visited with two small "arrows" at the bottom. Since these few
could be any of your Favorites, they may not be listed alphabetically even
though you have your Favorites "sorted by name". Clicking the arrows or
hovering the mouse over them for a couple of seconds will expand the list to
show all your Favorites.

Favorites are not shown on the Start Menu by default. To show them using the
Classic Start Menu, right click the Taskbar, choose Properties and click the
Start Menu tab. Next click the Customize button and place a check by
"Display Favorites". Click "OK" twice. Using the XP Start Menu the sequence
is right click the Taskbar, choose Properties and click the Start Menu tab.
Then click the Customize button and the Advanced tab. There place a check by
"Favorites menu". Click "OK" twice. The Favorites on the Start Menu behave
as they do when accessed from the Menu Bar in Internet Explorer.

There's really no need to access you Favorites in Windows Explorer unless
you want to do some serious reorganizing, which you will sooner or later.
Everyone accumulates Favorites and before you know it you have so many you
can't find anything. It's so easy to add one, press Ctrl+D while on a Web
page and you have another one. You have an "Organize" option while viewing
them in IE but it's much easier to manage them in Windows Explorer.
Consolidate by type or separate into categories and create folders, delete
bad ones, etc. Here is a program I like. It can be very useful to help you
organize and use your Favorites.

FavOrg 1.4 - Free
http://wittswallpapers.com/Oldies/indexoldies.html

Using FavOrg
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1558,1161575,00.asp

You can create a local (on your computer) Web page of all your Favorites. In
Internet Explorer, go to File, Import And Export. Click Next and choose
Export Favorites from the box at the left. Click Next again, select the
Favorites Source Folder at the top to export all Favorites, and then click
Next. Choose a location for your bookmarks page from Export To File Or
Address (My Documents?) and click Next one last time. You now have a handy
Web page listing all of your Favorites with one click links. Want your
Favorites as your Home Page? In Internet Explorer go to Tools \ Internet
Options and under the Home page heading, type in the address
file:///D:/My%20Documents/bookmark.htm. You would substitute the location of
where you saved your Favorites for the (D:/My%20Documents) location in the
example above. Then click "OK". If you have a problem with this one, write
me directly and tell me where you saved the "bookmark.htm" and I'll send you
the address to copy and paste.

I hope this has been easy to understand and helpful. My intent is only to
clarify and share. Don't hesitate to ask questions.

Sven Swanson, Sr.

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