If you’re stuck on dial-up, you’re probably open to anything to make it a little faster. More and more websites play colorful flash programs and stream audio and video clips that are sometimes impossible to load via dial-up, or at least not anytime soon. Here are some things that can help you maximize your online experience.
Minimize browsing. Keep your browsing in one, maybe two windows at a time. While your email home page loads, you can log in to your bank account or read a news article. Depending on what you’re trying to do, a window may work better. Close all tabs and pages that you are not using to avoid using unnecessary bandwidth.
Use shortcuts. Create favorites or bookmarks of frequently used pages to minimize extra clicks and load times. Some splash screens and announcements give you a skip or close link so you don’t have to sit through it all the time. Click the stop button at the top of the browser if you don’t need the whole page. If you see the link to the page you want, you don’t need the rest of the website to load before you click the link.
Manage necessary updates. Your antivirus or Windows update programs will download updates automatically as soon as you connect to the Internet every day, unless you have changed your settings. Schedule updates at a time when you’re not trying to view web pages, or connect to the Internet half an hour before you’re ready to start using it so updates have a chance to finish.
Eliminate unnecessary processes. Some programs like Windows Messenger or a weather forecaster are often set to connect automatically every time you go online. You can change the options for these programs so they won’t start until you tell them to connect to avoid using up bandwidth to start programs you won’t use.
Download later. When you check your email, you don’t want to compete with the bandwidth it takes to download a large program or update. Save the file to a location that you can find later. Allow large downloads to run overnight or when you’re away from home, then install them later. If possible, save large downloads to a flash drive or directly to your laptop while you’re at the library or a coffee shop with free wireless service. This will take much less time and can be transferred to your home computer later.
Clear browser data. For every web page you open, your Internet browser saves files, cookies, history, etc. These allow you to click the back and forward button, or save the data you enter into a form or login page. Eventually, your browser can get stuck with all that information saved. You should clear your stored files, cookies, and history every six weeks or months, depending on how much you browse daily. If you’re using Internet Explorer, click Tools, then Internet Options. You will see options to delete stored data here. If you are using Firefox, click Tools, Clear Private Data.
Try a new browser. If you are like most Internet users, you probably browse the Internet with Internet Explorer. There are many other browsers to choose from. Most of them are free to download and are supported by most websites. Each browser has a different compression and page loading technology that may be faster for you. Some browsers come with accelerators and other features that you may find useful. The three most popular browsers after IE are Mozilla’s Firefox, Google’s Chrome, and Opera. Each of these are free downloads, and their website has helpful information on getting the most out of them.
Check with your local computer technician for ways to make your computer run faster, or call your ISP provider for tips, equipment, or upgrades that may affect your browsing speed.
