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WHAT HAPPENED TO MY SELECTIONS?
"When I first set up Microsoft Internet Explorer 3, I followed Microsoft's instructions and personalized the home page (http://home.microsoft.com). For some reason, all my personal information sometimes disappears, and I have to go through all the personalization steps again. Is this normal, or am I doing something wrong?"

The most likely cause is that you're deleting all your subscription information when you delete temporary files. To delete temp files, choose View, Options and click the Advanced tab. Now, under Temporary Internet files, click Settings and then click Empty Folder. You'll get a dialog box asking if you really want to delete all the files. Click Yes, then click OK to close the Settings box. When you get back to the Options dialog box, click OK again to close it.

If you delete files in this way, you'll retain your subscription content. But if you manually delete all the files in the Temporary folder, the subscription content will go too.

ANIMATED MAIL
If you use Outlook Express and have FrontPage Express loaded, there's nothing to stop you from creating animated stationery. Locate (or make) an animated GIF that you'd like to use. Now run FrontPage Express and choose Insert, Image. When the Image dialog box opens, click Browse and then locate and double-click the animated GIF that you want to use.

You can now do whatever you want in the way of a background or other images. When you're happy with the page, choose File, Save As. This will open the Save As dialog box. Click As File and give the file a name. Now go to Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Stationery and click Save.

To see how your new animated stationery looks, run Outlook Express and choose Compose, New Message Using, More Stationery. In the Open dialog box, click the file you just saved and then click Open.

BEATS USING A STOPWATCH
Reader A. K. (and others) would like to know if there's any software that will monitor Internet connection speed. A. K. suspects that the connection speed shown in the toolbar isn't necessarily accurate.

A. K. is right about the reported connection speed: We have Microsoft Internet Explorer 3 installed under Windows NT 4.0, and the connection is shown as 115 kbps. This is the speed at which the computer communicates with the modem and has little to do with actual transfer speed.

A speed monitoring utility we like is called DU Meter Version 2.0.0. You'll find the file at

http://www.pcworld.com/fileworld/file_description/frameset/0,1458,4702,00.html
You can use DU Meter free of charge for 30 days. If you like the program and want to keep it, the charge is $10.

THE GREAT UNKNOWN
G. G. asks why Microsoft Internet Explorer 4 so often fails to estimate the duration of a download. The problem isn't with IE 4. Download times are only reported when the file length is available to IE 4. When the file length isn't available, IE 4 can't determine how long it might take to download the file. In this case, IE 4 will simply report the number of bytes downloaded up to any given time.

HOT OFF THE PRESSES
Several readers point out that we've never discussed how to send a News message to someone. Are you sure we've never done this one?

At any rate, with the News message selected, all you have to do is click the Forward Message button, fill in the address information, and click Send. If you prefer, you can forward the file as an attachment. Choose Compose, Forward as Attachment. Enter the address and type in a message (if you wish). When you're finished entering your message, click Send.

C'MON, GIVE US A HINT?
"Is there a way to know how many pages Microsoft Internet Explorer 3 will print before you start printing?"

We decided to use this question because so many readers have asked about this. The answer is no--as far as we can tell, there is nothing built into Microsoft Internet Explorer 3 that will tell you how many pages will print.

If anyone has run across a way to determine the number of pages before beginning the print operation, please pass the information along.

MISSING THUMBNAILS
"When I choose to view a folder as a Web page, it will generate thumbnail views of any selected BMP file. Is there a way to make it view JPG and GIF files the same way?"

We're not sure what the problem is, but our system DOES allow viewing of JPG and GIF files. Perhaps you could try reinstalling Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.

LINING UP FOR SECONDS
A. Y. writes, "When I read news, Internet News downloads the first 300 headers. What do I do if there are more than 300 messages? How do I get to all the messages?"

To download more headers, choose News, Get Next 300 Headers. Note that 300 headers is the default--your setting could be different. For example, if your installation of News is set to download 100 headers at a time, then your command would read Get Next 100 Headers.

HEY, KNOCK THAT OFF!
A while back, we suggested a reason for Microsoft Internet Explorer 4 opening on its own at startup and attempting to establish an Internet connection. R. Z. offers another possible reason for this occurrence. Here's what R. Z. says:

One possible reason for an unexpected automatic start is that the Enable Scheduled Subscription Updates check box in the Advanced tab of the Internet Options dialog box is selected. If the computer has been off all night or day, it may think it needs to update any subscriptions. This feature is enabled by default when IE 4 is installed the first time.

If you want to investigate this as a possible cause for automatic startup, choose view, Internet Options and click the Advanced tab. Deselect the check box labeled Enable Scheduled Subscription Updates. Click OK to close the dialog box and save your changes.

OIL AND VINEGAR
T. F. writes, "I'm getting ready to install Windows 98, but I don't want to use Microsoft Internet Explorer 4. How do I keep Microsoft Internet Explorer 3?"

You don't--Internet Explorer 3 is not an option in Windows 98. You can use Netscape browsers with Windows 98 if you like, but not IE 3.

If you want to upgrade to Windows 98, you shouldn't worry too much about losing IE 3. When it comes to user interface, there's not all that much difference between IE 3 and IE 4. The biggest difference is between Internet Mail and News and Outlook Express. Chances are you'll like Outlook Express once you get used to it.

FORGOTTEN, BUT NOT GONE
Although it may appear that Outlook Express folders hold files in the same way as other folders, this isn't the case. The Outlook Express messages are actually sitting in a group of files. For example, there's a file called Inbox.mbx that contains all the messages in the Inbox folder.

Say that you've been running Outlook Express for quite a while now and you've been deleting messages all along. Although they're no longer visible, deleted messages continue to take up space in the Inbox and other files. The files grow this way until they are compacted by Outlook Express.

You don't have to wait for Outlook Express to compact the files for you. If you want to keep those Outlook Express folder files small, choose File, Folder, Compact All Folders. Messages you no longer need will disappear, and those Folder files will become much smaller.

MAKING A LIST AND CHECKING IT TWICE
"I have over 200 URLs in my Favorites folder. Is there a way to print the contents of the folder?"

There's no way to print a folder's contents using either Microsoft Internet Explorer or Windows 95/98/NT 4.0. However, there are outside programs that will do the job for you. Here's a program we recently recommended to Windows NT 4.0 users:

To print the contents of your Favorites folder (or any folder), you can download ExpPrint from JD Design to do the job for you. You'll find the file at

http://www.pcworld.com/fileworld/file_description/frameset/0,1458,4316,00.html
After you download the file, unzip it and right-click ExpPrint.inf. When the menu opens, choose Install. Now, run Windows Explorer and right-click your Favorites folder. Choose Print Directory Listing to open the ExpPrint dialog box. Select the printing parameters you want to use and click Print. When you're finished with the dialog box, click Close. Note that the Save Settings function won't work until you register the program.

ExpPrint needs MFC42.DLL, version 4.21.7022 and MSVCRT.DLL, version 5.00.7022. If you don't have these versions (or later) in your Windows\System folder, you can get them from Microsoft. The registration fee for ExpPrint is $10.

CHUBBY CHECKER
Recently, we said that you need Microsoft Office installed to spell-check Internet Mail messages. Not so, say several of our readers. They report that any Microsoft product with a spelling checker will work, including Microsoft Publisher. If you're using other products that enable spell-checking in Internet Mail, please let us know so we can pass along a more complete list.

COMMAND CENTRAL
F. T. points out that you can use Windows Explorer (in Windows 95 and 98) as your primary center of operations. In Windows Explorer, choose Favorites and select one of your favorite sites. Your system will dial your ISP and navigate to the selected site. The Web page will appear in the right pane of Windows Explorer.

You can now work with the right pane to view either Web pages or folder contents--all without ever leaving Windows Explorer.

ON/OFF SWITCH
R. H. points out that some of the Microsoft Internet Explorer 4 toolbar buttons are toggles. R. H. is correct. The toggle buttons are Search, Favorites, History, and Channels. When you click History (for example), the History frame opens at the left side of your screen. To close History, just click the toolbar button again.

The Fullscreen button is also a toggle in a way. When you click Fullscreen, a similar button appears in the Fullscreen view. You can click this button to return to normal screen view.