There are several things everyone should know about to customize their web experience.      

	- Can you view more material on your screen and use the scroll arrows less by adjusting the monitor resolution?
	- Can you get graphics to display clearer and look more like photographs by adjusting the color depth?
	- What is the best way to download, extract, install, and keep track of files when downloading from the internet?
	- Install some custom fonts that will make your Relief experience a little smoother.

These are pretty simple adjustments to understand, but most people just haven't heard about them!

 

Monitor Resolution
    First, what is monitor resolution?  Your monitors screen is actually made of a grid of small dots called picture elements, or pixels for short.   Each pixel can display a color, or no color at all.  The size of the grid is the resolution.  The larger the grid (1024 x 768 pixels for example), the smaller the pixels are.  This is because the actual size of your monitor never changes, there are only more pixels squeezed into the same area.  Most monitors can display different size grids so you can adjust them the way you like best.
    When you first buy a computer its usually set up to have a screen area that displays  640 x 480 pixels.   Most monitors can handle 800 by 600 pixels and if you've got a better graphics card you may be able to display 1024 by 768 pixels.  This means that by increasing the resolution, you will be able to fit more graphics and text on your screen.  You may not have to use the scroll arrows as much to see stuff on the right hand side of your screen.
    Lets do a test.  Resize your browser window (the icon next to the X at the top right of the open window) so you can see some of your desktop.  Close any other open applications if there are any open.   Right-click on the desktop and choose Properties to bring up the Display Properties dialog box.  This is where all your screen settings are modified.   Click on the Settings tab at the top.  You should see an area called 'Display area' with a slider bar.  Click and drag this bar and watch as the resolution options are displayed.  Try bumping up the display a level.  If it said 640 x 480, set it to 800 x 600.  Click the Apply button and let windows run the display test.   If you like the new settings keep them, otherwise adjust the slider back to the settings you like best.

Color Depth
    Most computer systems these days come with a pretty decent graphic card.  If your interested in displaying a higher resolution with more colors, this is where the graphics card comes in.  The available color depth choices are 16 (4 bit), 256 (8 bit), High Color (16 bit), True Color (24 bit), and True color (32 bit).
    So what's the difference here?  Well, a higher number means that there are more shades of each color your computer gets to choose from to display the most accurate color.  The more colors your computer chooses from also means that it needs more memory and processing power to display each little pixel on your monitor.  Depending on the mode, your computer will need 4, 8, 16, 24, or 32 bits of memory to display each pixel.  The higher the number, the more colors you have to choose from.  Running in High Color (16 bit), pictures will look great and almost photographic.
    To check or change your color settings Right-click the desktop then Properties or Start - Settings - Control Panel - Display.  Once in the Display Properties dialog box, click the settings tab and look what it says under Color palette.  Click the drop down box to explore your options.  Set it on at least High Color (16 bit).  Click on Apply, do the test if Windows recommends one, and your done.

Downloading from the internet
    One of the great things about the internet is the amount of stuff, (utilities, games, graphics, documents, etc...) you can download and use for yourself.  Alot of it is even free!
Here are some things to consider when downloading a file:
- First, where are you going to put it?  It's gotta go somewhere on your computer and I've found that it helps to have a special folder for these files so I don't loose them.  A folder named Downloads is where everything I download goes first.  The Desktop is a good place for it.  Resize your browser window so you can see your desktop and then rightclick on the desktop and choose New - Folder, and name it Downloads.  (The C: drive is another god place) Now when you download a file from the internet, save it in this folder.
- Second, any file you download should be scanned for viruses.  It's very safe to download files but its still a good idea to scan them.  Open the downloads folder to display the new file.  Most virus scan programs allow you to right-click on the icon, and then choose scan.  Some need you to right-click on the folder (Downloads!) to make the scan.  I would recommend doing this.  If you don't have a virus scan program you can use the version here from McAffee.
- Alot of files you download are Zipped.  This means the single file you get actually contains several files when Un-Zipped.  I have a folder inside the Downloads folder called Extract that I copy the downloaded file to, and then unzip zipped files there.  If you don't have an unzip program you can use this shareware from WinZip  After the program is installed I delete everything in the Extract folder to have it ready for the next file I get.  Remember to save a copy on the original downloaded file for a backup.  You might want to give it to someone else also.

Custom Fonts
    This site is made to use fonts that have a little more character and a better 'feel' than Arial or Times New Roman.  The site is made so that it looks for the custom fonts first and if you have them installed in your computer, it will use them.   If you don't, it uses Times New Roman which every computer has.

Click File from the menu bar of the fonts folder, then Install new font...   Locate your extract folder and then pick the fonts.  Click Ok.   The new fonts will be installed in your windows / fonts folder.