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Computer Basics: Accessing the Internet

Choosing a Browser

There are several ways to access the internet on a computer, and all of those ways require a BROWSER.

All Windows PC's come with Internet Explorer as the default browser. It's icon looks like this:

File:Internet Explorer 9 icon.svg - Wikimedia Commons

 

Besides Internet Explorer, there are other browsers you can use to access the internet. One is Google Chrome. It's logo looks like this:

Google Chrome Logo Vector (.AI) Free Download

 

The other is Mozilla Firefox, which looks like this:

A new Firefox and a new Firefox icon | The Firefox Frontier

Clicking any of the browser icons on the desktop will allow you to access the internet. For purposes of this libguide, we will use Google Chrome for the examples.

To open your browser, double-click its icon with your mouse.

When you open Chrome, you will see the search bar at the top of the screen that looks like this:

 

The search bar is where you can search or "Google" something. It is also where you can type in a url. A url (or "web address") is what you would type in to go directly to a website. For example, www.trinitydc.edu is the url for Trinity Washington University.

The browser also has certain icons: 

  • The LEFT ARROW (or back button) - takes you to the previous page.
  • The RIGHT ARROW (or forward button) - takes you forward if you clicked the back button.
  • The RELOAD button - reloads the same page on your screen.
  • The HOME button - takes you directly to your homepage.
  • The THREE-DOT MENU button (on the upper-right side of the page) - place where you can see your history, bookmarks, and print options.