What is a Firewall?

Ever wondered what a Firewall is, basically its a piece of software that you just install on your computer and protects you from things like viruses and spyware when you are on the Internet, it does this by monitoring Internet traffic coming from your computer and being directed to your computer.

You can also have a hardware firewall that is built into a wireless router.

It is always advisable to have a firewall installed on your computer as well as Anti-Virus software.

Recommended Downloads - Smart Defrag

Windows has a perectly capable Disk Defrag utility built in, but if like us you would like one that is a bit quicker and more attractive to look at you could always try Smart Defrag made by a company called iobit

Onr particularly useful feature we find is the option to shut the computer down when it has finished the Defrag, this means that you can leave your computer to do the task before you go to bed and it will shut down when complete meaning you don't have to keep checking to see if it has finished.

You can download Smart Defrag, which is free, from here.

"Defrag"

Over time your computer may become slow when trying to access files from the machine, this can sometimes happen when the Hard Dick Drive becomes fragmented.

When the computer saves a file, this is saved in the next available space and not in any particular order, when the computer has to look for the file it has to search over all un-used as well as used space.

One aid to this is to "Defrag" your computer if you are on Windows Vista just type defrag into the machine to find the program and in Windows XP click Start then All Programs, Accessories, System Tools and then click Disk Defragmenter.

When the defragmenter starts to work it moves all the data into one logical area so that when you are looking for a particular file the computer can quickly use this logical order to find the file.

Icon sizes

Ever thought that the icons are too small on your desktop well in Windows Vista you can now change the size of them.
Click on the desktop and hold down the CTRL key whilst moving the scroll wheel on your mouse up and down you should now see the icons increase and decrease in size as you move the wheel.

Handy QuickTip - Shutting Down

To quickly shut down your Windows XP computer press the Windows key then press U twice.

Questions

At PCQuickTips we are always happy to answer your questions and we would like to thank everybody who has sent us a message for there question to be answered.
Please keep your questions coming in to us either by emailing us on our contact link or by posting a question under the tips we provide.

Handy QuickTip - Web searching

When searching for a website, there is no longer any need to go to a search page to do so, just type in what you are looking for directly into the browsers address bar at the top of the page.

Installing Windows on more than one computer

You may have a Windows disc that came with your computer and we have been asked if this can be installed on another computer.

The simple answer to this is no, each copy of Windows come with its own unique "product-key" which is kind of a serial number for that copy you have.

The disc will let you go as far as installing the software but will ask you for the serial number and then you have to activate either via the Internet or by phone.

Recommended Web Sites - myhotspots.co.uk

Staying on the Wi-Fi theme this week we have a web site to recommend.

If you are visiting an area in the UK and want to find a place to connect to the Internet you can find out where to connect to by using www.myhotspots.co.uk

Just type in the name of the town you are visiting and the site will give you all of the hotspots in the area.

You can even click on a map of the hotspot to see exactly where it is.

Click here to visit the site.

Handy QuickTip - Increasing size of text in your Internet Browser

Having trouble reading text on a web page in Internet Explorer, Google Chrome or Firefox?

Hold down CTRL and the "+" key and the text will enlarge, press a couple of times to make the text bigger still.

If you would like to decrease the size hold down the CTRL key and the "-" key.

Wi-Fi Hotspot

A lot of people ask us what a Wi-Fi Hotspot is.

All this means is a place where you can log onto the Internet either free or for a small charge.

Many of the large chain of coffee shops and fast food restaurants have Wi-Fi hotspots for you to log onto, all you need is a laptop or other Internet device to log on.

Recommended Downloads - Foxit Reader

Staying on the PDF theme this week, we have a download for you from a company called Foxit.

There are a few different ways of reading PDF files but some of them, Adobe's Acrobat reader for instance is quite a large download and can take more space than needed to do the job.

The answer for us is Foxit Reader, its a small download and very fast to load when opening a PDF file, and like always this download is free.

To get Foxit Reader please click here.

Handy QuickTip - Saving a document as a PDF

If you have the lastest version of Microsoft Word you can save you document as a PDF easily by using the save as command and selecting .PDF from the drop down menu underneath the box where you name you file.

What is a PDF?

PDF files or to give them there long name portable document files are a way of displaying a document on any computer while still retaining the format of the document.

Created by Adobe the format can be used on all computers providing they have a piece of software known as a PDF reader installed. On such reader is Adobe Acrobat Reader which usually comes pre-installed on many computers.

Recommended Downloads - Dropbox

With most of our lives going digital nowadays, its always nice to be able to backup some information to the Internet so you can retrieve it from any computer, anywhere.

This is where Dropbox comes in.
Dropbox is an online storage website that allows you to upload 2GB of your data for free, there are various options for more storage which costs more.

All you do is sign up for a free account and you can upload your data immediately, you can then sign in anywhere and retrieve your information on any computer, you can even upload files from any other computer too.

You can download DropBox from Dropbox.com

Handy QuickTip - Undo

You may have just typed something into a document and want to undo the action quickly, press CTRL and Z for a shortcut to this action.

CAPTCHA

You may have signed up for a service on the Internet such as a web mail service and at the end of the form you fill in you will see some strange characters for you to type in - this technique is known as CAPTCHA

Basically what this does is it makes sure that the person typing in the details is a "real person" and not a computer filling in the form. This cuts down on junk emails and false account setups on web sites.

You may also see these symbols on web sites where you can make comments.

Bookmarking

Adding bookmarks in a browser is a great way to save your favourite sites, in Internet Explorer this feature is called Favourites.

To quickly add a boomark when visiting a web site press CTRL and D.

Handy QuickTip - F3

Pressing F3 will open a search box allowing you to search the files on your computer, this option works only whilst viewing the desktop.

Creating a new folder

If you would like to create a folder to place documents or photographs in just right click where you want the folder to be created and select NEW then Folder, the folder will created and will allow you to rename it.

Recommended Downloads - Picassa

Windows already has a built in system for organising your photographs, especially the new versions, but you may like to try another piece of software.

If you like to edit you photographs before you store them, Picasa has tools to do this as well, you can also add tags to them so you know where they where taken.

Picasa is a great piece of software to edit and show off you treasured photographs, to download Picasa, click here.

Handy QuickTip - Quicker Startup

If you are using a laptop, instead of turning the computer off when you have finished using it, just close the lid, the computer will go into sleep mode and when you re-open the lid the computer will start where you left off.

Recommended Web Sites - Vevo.com

If you like listening to music and also like watching music videos, then this weeks recommended web site is suited to you.
This week we are recommending www.vevo.com

Vevo is very much like YouTube.com but is based around music videos, the videos are high quality both in sound and video quality.

To visit Vevo click here.

Handy QuickTip - Print

If you would like to print a web page or document press CTRL and P

Apps

You may have heard the term "apps" being used recently. Basically and "app" is a term used for an application for instance you could say that the word processor you use is an "app".
Apps are mainly very small pieces of software that are set to do a basic task.
The term "app" is not a new term and is an abbreviation now used by mainly mobile phone manufacturers to describe small items of software that can be installed on the phone.
Apps are also now starting to become more popular on computers.

Recommended Web Sites - YouTube.com

As with music there are a number of services to watch videos on the Internet.

By far the most popular service on the Internet is YouTube.

YouTube videos range from music videos to TV shows, Movie trailers and also some short films on there as well, if you are feeling nostalgic you can also check out old TV adverts and old TV shows.

Other video services are available but the most we recommend checking YouTube first.

Handy QuickTip - Copy

To copy an item whether it is a word in a document or a file, you can press CTRL and C

Recommended Downloads - VLC Media Player

You may have various methods to play video on your computer, such as Windows Media Player or Apple's Quicktime, but today we are recommending VLC Media Player.

Quite simply VLC Media Player will play just about any video and audio file that you can challenge it with, we have it installed on all the computers we use and we highly recommend it.

Don't just take our word for it, download it today, we don't think you will use any other media player after using this one.

Handy QuickTip - Italic

If you would like to make a word appear in italics in a letter you are typing, highlight that word and press CTRL and I

Listening to music

There are many ways you can listen to music on your computer, you can use Windows media player, iTunes or a streaming web service such as Spotify.

Windows media player is already part of Windows, so you can listen to music directly from there without having to download anything else. There is also like many other services a store for you to purchase your music.

iTunes from Apple is a piece of software that you have to download from iTunes you can purchase music which can then be played from you computer or if you own an iPod or iPhone can also be played on those devices as well.

Spotify is one pf a number of services offering streaming music across the Internet, all you have to do is download Spotify, create an account and start listening straight away. Spotify offers different types of accounts ranging from free which has adverts randomly placed in between tracks and also paid services with no adverts.

Recommended Web Sites - HotUKDeals.com

Our recommended web site today is HotUKDeals.co.uk.

HotUKDeals offers a constant stream of deals that users have found in stores and on the internet, the users post the deals as they found them, you can even join yourself and add deals when you find them.

They also have an area that gives vouchers codes for you to use when purchasing items from web sites.

We use HotUKDeals daily and our favourite section is the Freebies - where you can sometimes pickup downloads for your computer and even items sent to you free of charge.

Handy QuickTip - Underline

If you would like to underline a word in a letter you are typing, highlight that word and press CTRL and U

Readers Questions - Battery Charging

We have been asked by email

How often should you charge your laptop battery?

There is no real answer to this, if you search around the Internet you will probably find conflicting answers, some will say let the battery run right down before re-charging and some will say let it run down at least once a month, we would say the best advise is to always follow the manufacturer's recommendations for the battery.

Handy QuickTip - Bold

When typing a letter, if you want to make a certain word BOLD, then highlight that word and press CTRL and B

Social Networking

We have all heard about social networking, but what is it?

Basically social networking relates to web sites such as Twitter & Facebook.

Twitter offers you the chance to see short messages (140 characters long) from people you follow and also people who follow you can see your messages as well. You can also upload photos, the most popular way to use Twitter seems to be from a mobile device. We have a Twitter feed you can follow to get you started @pcquicktips

Facebook on the other hand is quite different, with Facebook you can share your whole life with everybody you are friends with, you can upload photos, tell people what you are doing right now and also use the chat feature to talk to your friends directly. Facebook is a great way to catch up with old friends, such as old school friends or friends who live overseas.

A lot can be said about the different social networking sites available, but really the only way to find out which is best for you is to try them.

Recommended Web Sites - Download.com

Today we are starting a new section, called recommended Web Sites.

Our first site, Download.com here you can find almost any item of software to suit your needs, some of the downloads are free and some you can trial for a limited time.

We use download.com as a first stop when we are looking for software for a specific task, the handy seach option works really well, just type in the item you are looking for it will not only find that item but also give you alternative downloads.

Download.com also has technology news and reviews.

Handy QuickTip - Locking Windows

You can easily lock your computer by pressing the Windows key and L.

Readers Questions - Modems

Steve A, asks.

Do all laptops have a modem?

Well Steve, the main answer is yes, but it depends what tyoe of modem you want, the newer model are less likely to have a dial-up modem in them but will have a wireless modem in them so you can connect to wireless broadband.

Handy QuickTip - Sorting the "Start" Menu

If you have a lot of programs on your Windows XP computer and it is making it hard to find anything in your "Start" menu, you may want to sort them in to alphabetical order.
To do this open up the list of programs and right click your mouse button then select sort by name.

Note: this tip is only for user of Windows XP as Windows 7 and Vista automatically sort the programs into order.

Readers Questions - Anti-Virus Software

Another question we get a lot of mail about is Anti-Virus Software, mainly how many should we have running at one time.

The simple answer to this is just one, if you have too many Anti-Virus programs running at one time there is a possibility that they will clash and become in-effective so our advice is stick to just one.

The Anti-Virus protection we recommend and use is Microsoft Security Essentials

Another one we use on some of our computers is AVG.

Both of these programs are free.

Readers Questions - Watching TV

Another reader of PCQuickTips, Chris writes.


How do I watch TV on my latptop?

Well Chris there are a couple of ways to do this, you can either purchase a seperate item called a TV tuner which is plugged into the USB slot of your computer or you can watch the TV on a catch-up service such as BBC iPlayer, or any of the other TV catch up services available.

Handy QuickTip - Instead of Right Click

Pressing "CTRL" and "F10" will open the right click menu you use on your mouse.

Readers Questions - Removing Software

This question comes in from Alan.

Why can I not just delete a program, why do I have to unintall it?

Well Alan, the reason for this is that just deleting it will not remove the program from your computer.

When you install a program such as Microsoft Office for example it not only adds the program to your computer but it can also install extra items that are attached to other areas of Windows, if you right click when you are on the desktop for instance you will see a menu pop-up called "New" and this allows you to create a file for Microsoft Word directly from that menu.

Just deleting the program will only remove the file itself and can cause problems later on.

If you want to remove a program from your computer always unistall it.

Handy QuickTip - Another way to open the "Start" menu

Pressing the "CTRL" key and the "ESC" key can also give you access to the "Start" menu.

Readers Questions - FireWire?!?

We have been asked a lot of questions recently by email, so this week rather than the usual posts we are going to devote the time to answer some of these questions.

The first question came from a few different readers.

What is FireWire?

Firewire or to give it its technical name IEEE1394 is a way of transferring video from a device such as a camcorder to your computer, video files can be large and FireWire is the best way to transfer these files.

A more detailed and technical description can be found here.

Recommended Downloads - LastPass

One of the many things you may have noticed when using the Internet is how many web sites ask you to sign up or sign in.

It can be difficult to remember all of these user names and passwords, but what if they could all be collected together and you could use one master password to log in to the sites you visit, well help is at hand with LastPass.

LastPass is a small piece of software that when installed is "plugged-in" to your browser and sits there waiting for you to visit a site that needs a password, it then becomes active.

When you have installed the software, it will ask you to set up a master password that you can use to log into the sites you have saved.

The sites are saved as you visit them, when you sign up to the site LastPass will automatically ask you if you would like to save the information, it will even generate a secure password for each site you visit if you wish.

When you re-visit the site LastPass will automatically fill out the user name and password for you. The only password you will need is the master password you have created.

You can also use LastPass to store all of your personal details so that you don't have to fill them out every time you visit a page with a form to fill in, such as home/car insurance sites.

Because LastPass store all of your details on a secure server, you can install the software on any computer and as long as you have your username and password for LastPass you will be able to log into all of the sites that require it.

We can't recommend LastPass highly enough, we'd be lost without it in fact!

LastPass is available to download from here.

Handy QuickTip - Close a window

If you have multiple windows open on your computer, rather than closing them all down with the mouse press "ALT"+"F4", this will close the curent open window.

Shortcuts

Shortcuts are items on your computer that make it easier to run your favourite software.

The software on your computer is installed in a particular place, to find this would be both time consuming and sometimes confusing, for this reason in Windows there are shortcuts.

The "Start" menu consists mainly of shortcuts and also your desktop can have shortcuts on there as well, a lot of the software you install on your computer will place a shortcut on the desktop of your computer.

The shortcut has a small arrow on the bottom left hand side of the icon.

It is perfectly safe to delete these shortcuts from your desktop, this will not remove the software you have installed on your computer.


You can also create your own shorcuts:

1. Click on the software icon you would like to create a shortcut to, this will open a seperate box of options.
2.  Here you will see a command called "send to", highlight this option by moving down to it with the mouse and this will open another box with options.
3. You will then see a command called "Desktop (create shortcut)", left click on this option to create your shortcut.

Handy QuickTip - "Pinning"

If like us at PCQuickTips you use a particular item of software on your computer a lot and would like easier access to it you can "pin" it to the "Start" menu.
If you find the software you need on your computer and then right click on the name of the software this will bring up a box of options one of these options is "Pin to Start Menu", click this and a shortcut is added to your "Start" menu giving you easier access to your favourite software.

To "The Cloud"

You may have seen advertisments on TV or in print using the words "The Cloud".

In computing terms this is an area of the Internet that you can use for storing your files, you can store documents pictures videos all on some virtual space (usually free) that is allocated to you by various Internet companies. a good example of this Microsofts, Windows Live Skydrive.

At PCQuickTips we use "The Cloud" to store backups of the files we use and also personal photographs and documents. These services provide a way of backing up your items so if something happens to your computer you can easily get them back. You can also log in on any computer anywhere and still access your files.

Another example of this would be an email service that you use on the Internet such as Yahoo Mail, Google Mail and Hotmail.

Service Packs

You may have seen your computer downloading various updates at certain times and you may have come across an update called a Service Pack.

A Service Pack is generally a collection of software updates and security fixes to help your computer perform better, most of the time the Service Pack is simply a collection of updates that your computer may have missed at the time of release.

• Windows XP is currently at Service Pack 3
• Windows Vista is currently at Service Pack 2
• Windows 7 is currently at Service Pack 1

Some of the items in the Service Pack can also bring extra improvements such as with Service Pack 2 for Windows XP which added the security centre and major improvements in the way security is handled within Windows.

In Windows Vista the main emphasis was on speed and stability of the system.

Windows 7 is based more around the collection of updates.

To check which Service Pack you have installed click on the Start menu and hover of the the My Computer icon or Computer icon depending on your version then Right Click and select Properties, another window will appear showing you information about your computer, you should here be able to see which version of the Service Pack you have.

Most computers will be up to date with the Service Packs as they are "delivered" to you from the Internet directly and automatically.

Handy QuickTip - Renaming a file continued

Following on from our earlier tip of renaming a file, in version of Windows Vista and 7, if you have a large amount of files to rename in one folder, you can use the TAB key to move onto the next file to rename automatically, this saves you time highlighting each file individually.

Microsoft Updates

From time to time, Microsoft sends out various updates for your computer, you generally notice when this happens as a small symbol will appear in the bottom corner of your computer screen and a box will pop up telling you that updates are ready to install on your computer.

These updates are perfectly safe and are generally there to help improve the security of your computer from on going battle against things like computer viruses.

These updates can also provide increased funtionality to certain Windows tasks, although these are generally updates that won't have any impact on the way you use your computer.

It is important that you keep your computer up to date with these updates as thet not only provide your computer with added security thet may just help others too if your computer is blocking a certain virus from entering your system it wall also ensure that you cannot pass the virus onto anybody else.

Handy QuickTip - Renaming a file

To quickly rename a file, highlight the file you wish to rename by left clicking it once andthen press F2 this, will highlight the name of the file for you, so you can type in the new name of the file.

Drivers

Drivers are a small program that allows another peripheral to connected to your computer so that the 2 machines can "talk" to each other.

Drivers usually come on a seperate disc that comes with the peripheral you have bought, this disc usually has to be used with older versions of Windows such as XP as newer versions the Operating System has most of the drivers "built in".

Windows XP is an older Operating System now and although perfectly good at doing the daily tasks you need to do, technology has moved on, with newer versions of Windows such as Vista or Windows 7 if the driver isn't already "built in" the computer will connect to the Internet and search for the driver from the relevant makers web site.

Internet Explorer 9

This week, Microsoft updated its popular browser Internet Explorer to version 9.

We will be proving more detailed information about the browser at a later date but from our first impressions and testing we are very impressed.

The speed has been greatly improved and the browsing window has been made larger for a better Internet experience.

You can get more information and if you would like to install Internet Explorer 9 by clicking here.

Recommended Downloads - CCleaner

Over time your computer collects information whether its is from the Internet or just day to day tasks whilst using Windows.

These files although are generally harmless can slow down the performance of your computer and every now and again it is good practice to have a "spring clean".

The "spring clean" can be handled in two ways, you can use various options in Windows and your browser to clean the unwanted files or you can use software to do the task.

Here at PCQuickTips we recommend CCleaner.

CCleaner from a company called Piriform handles all of the task of cleaning browsing history and also temporary files from your computer that are no longer needed, this can all be done using just one click, you can even analyze the procedure before you go ahead and remove them, just to double check the amount of space you will be saving and what will be deleted.

The software will also allow you to "untick" all of the items that you would not like deleted such as the contents of the recycle bin, just in case you are unsure as to whether you have sent important files there.

CCleaner is not just a cleaning tool, it also allows you to uninstall software from your computer and clean up the registry (a feature we only recommend experienced user to use!).

One of the best thing about all the features of this software is that it is free.

CCleaner is available to download from here.

Handy Quick Tip - Help!

Pressing the F1 key when using your computer will bring up a handy help window.

Internet Explorer Part 3

In part 1 of this series we looked at the very top section of Internet Explorer, in ths part we will give an overview of the what is under that top area.

This area is known as the browser window, all of the common browsers have them, this is your "window" into the Internet.


Here we have highlighted the browser window area in red.

Now we will look at the lower area of the browser, this gives a small about of information about the site you are visiting.

The image below shows the left hand side of the bottom bar, this basically tells you when the site you are visiting has loaded, sometimes this can also display an error, if the site has loaded incorrectly.

 

 

The image below show the right hand side of the bar, this side shows a little more information.

As you can see here the bar is showing a symbol that looks like an eye with a red circle and a line through it, if you click on this, Internet Explorer will tell you if anything has been blocked to protect your computer and your privacy.

If you double click on the next icon along that reads Internet you will see that this is a shortcut to your privacy settings.

The next icon looks like a little lock symbol, if you move your mouse over this, a small amount of text will pop up and tell you what Internet Explorer is blocking on this site, this could be annoying adverts which pop up from time to time.

The next icon along is the zoom option, if you click on this a smal window will pop up and ask you which size you would prefer the screen to be viewed, this especially good for people who have poor eyesight.

Handy Quick Tip - Full screen browsing

Pressing F11 on your keyboard whilst browsing the Internet will make your browser go into full screen mode, giving you a larger reading area.

Internet Explorer Part 2

In this part in our series we will look the section right under the top bar, this section holds an areea to hold all of your most commonly used favourites and also just underneath this area is the "tabs" section.

This image shows the left hand side of the area.

1. This is the area where you can store your most commonly used favourite web sites, as you can see we have already placed some favourites of our own in this area. To add your favourite sites just click on the website name in the address bar, hold the mouse button down and move into the favourites area then let go of the mouse button, if this is done correctly the web site should appear in this area.
2. This icon refers to tabs, using tabs allows you to open multiple websites without opening up Internet Explorer over and over again, this icon lets you see a preview all of the sites you currently have open.
3. This is the current tab you have open.
4. This is a tab we have already opened, we can easily go back to this tab by clicking it.
5. This allows us to open a new tab, when you click on this new tab icon you will see another page that asks you what you would like to do with the new tab.

This image shows the right hand side of the area.

1. This is your home button, clicking this will go to the home page that you prefer and have chosen.
2. This icon refers to RSS feeds or Really Simple Syndication, these are smaller versions if you like of web sites that you have visited, they are text only and usually load a lot quicker, when you visit a web site this icon will light up an orange colour this means that the site has an RSS feed that you can subscribe to.
3. This icon is directly linked to the email software that you use and is installed on your computer, this icon will not work with web based mail, such as YahooMail, Gmail & Hotmail.
4. This is the print icon and will allow you to print the web page you a viewing.
5. Clicking here will give you more options to do with the page you are on, such as email the page to a contact.
6. The safety option allows you to clear all of your browsing history and also allows InPrivate browsing.
7. Tools allows you to set various options in the browser, these seperate items we will look at in a future post.
8. Last but not least is the help icon, click this and you can not only find out about the browser, but also get help when you need it.

Internet Explorer Part 1

Microsoft's own browser, Internet Explorer is currently the most popular of the Internet browsers.

In this three part series we will give a brief descriptions of the icons and options you can see in front of you as you open the browser.

Internet Explorer also has options that are "hidden" away that you don't use everyday, we will cover these options at a later date.

If you have used the Internet before there is a very good chance you have used it through Internet Explorer, most computers have it as the main browser installed.

Most browsers work the same way and the options in them are very similar, we will start with the top left of the browser.

This picture shows the top left of the browser, taken from the latest version of Internet Explorer which is version 8.

 

1. This tells you which site you are currently on, it may also contain words that relate to the site you are on to aid search engines such as Google to find the site quicker.
2. This is the "Back" button, if you have visited a site and have clicked on a link within that site you can click here to go back one page at a time.
3. This is the "Forward" button, this means that when you have gone back through the pages of a website you can easily move forward the the pages you have visited.
4. If you click this button you will see a list of page that you have visited on a particular site, if you select one of these pages you can easily jump straight to that page without having to use the forward and back buttons.
5. The Address Bar, This is where you would type the site you are looking for directly in so if you know the name of the site you are looking to visit you can type this in here for example if you where to look at the BBC website you would type in www.bbc.co.uk

 This next picture is from the top left of the browser.

 

1. If you click this downwards pointing arrow you will see a list of sites that you have already visited so that you can easily select the one you would like, this especially useful if you visit a site regularly these site will be stored here.
2. This little icon only appears when the site you visit is an old site, sometimes you may experience a web site not looking correct on the screen, it may be that the pictures and the text overlap each other or are generally messed up, if you click this little icon this will correct this problem.
3. This icon is to refresh the page, if you are visiting a page that is regularly updated such as a news website you could click this to refresh the page and update it.
4. This icon stops a page from loading, is a page was taking a long time to load you can click this to stop the page from loading, this is a little used icon and was mainly used during the days of slower internet connections.
5. This small box to the right of the browser is a search box this lets you serach the internet without leaving the page you are currently on, so for example if you are doinf some research you can stay on the page you have found whilst looking for more information.