Weekly Computer Tip # 342
13 June 2011


quickly open a Web page without first launching your browser
(Windows)

About a year ago I told you how to access your documents from the taskbar (see tip_315.php if you missed it) and - judging from the amounts of emails I got - lots of you liked the idea. But did you know that the taskbar (which appears to the right of the Start button) can be customized so that you can quickly open a Web page without first having to launch your browser?

Here's how:

  1. Right-click an empty area on the taskbar (the area to the right of your Start button).
  2. Point to "Toolbars", and then select "Address".
  3. Click OK.

The Address bar is added to the taskbar, to the immediate left of the Notification area. To see the area where to type or read your web addresses simply point to the left border of the Address bar (the two dotted lines). When the mouse pointer appears as a double-headed horizontal arrow press and hold down the mouse button, and drag the left border to the left.

By the way, this tip is also supposed to work in Windows XP, but I cannot see "Address" - unless they mean Links?

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