Windows XP tip

If you have Windows XP and are on an internet page and you want to go back to the previous page, you don't have to point the mouse to the upper left hand corner. Just hit the backspce key on the keyboard.

 

abx, Thank you for that tip. Also, if you are on a Web Page and there is NO Back button, just right click on that web page and select "Back" from the drop down menu! Tom

 

If the back or forward button on IE's tool bar is not available, then nor will the back or forward option be available in the right-click menu.

 

Brett. Your wrong, Thats the idea for having the back button on the drop down menu when there is NO other Buttons! Works for me anyway!

 

Maybe I'm missing something here - but if you use the "back" option in the right-click menu when the back button in the toolbar is not available, what do you actuallly go back to?

 

Brett - I left the "back" and "forward" buttons off my toolbar since I have nice ones on the track ball. I tried the right-click and BACK thing from this thread before posting this response and was taken back to the previous page (XP listing).

Tried both back and forward on another page and they seem to do nicely.

 

You can also use the "ALT" key in combination with the left and right arrow keys on your keyboard. Press and hold alt key then press arrow keys.

If you want to go forward use the "ALT" and "Right" arrow key combination.

If you want to go back use the "ALT "/ "Left" aroow key combination.

I'm editing this as I should have mentioned that I am using IE 6.0 for this. We use this combination as we have Internet Kiosks at work and have IE in Kiosk Mode (F11) and have it set up so users don't have access to any buttons (including back and forward). We just get them to use the key combination.

 

Just for the record, ABX's backspace key suggestion works in Internet Explorer, but not in Netscape 4.79. Dobhar's suggestion of using Alt + the arrow keys works in both.

 

Here's a couple links for some keyboard shortcuts...

http://www.xp-erience.org/sections.php?op=viewarticle&artid=29
http://is-it-true.org/nt/xp/utips/utips14.shtml

You can also use the Help section of IE to see a complete list of Internet Explorer shortcuts. Click on "Help ", then "Contents and Index ", then select the Index tab and type in "keyboard shortcuts ".

Laters,

 

Just for the record...

I use windows98SE and MSIE and have always used backspace key as my primary method for going 'back' to previous web page.

HOWEVER, you must be careful of certain variables which may exist on the current page, i.e. a form in use, which may interpret the backspace press as 'go back to previous page' instead of backspacing one character which, of course, would be counter productive to filling out the form. This usually only happens when the cursor position is no longer the focal point of the browser, which can happen at any time due to a variety of program-based manipulations, but which is also most likely to occur when you have more than one browser window open at a time. (Certain timing scripts are usually involved.)

Another point: being a web designer I can tell you that there are scripts in use which will not allow you to go 'back', which will eliminate the right-click entirely, or will prevent any movement other than a link-click on the current page.

Just FYI

 

One of the nicer things about Windows, of whatever flavor, is that the Gnomes of Redmond haven't forced us to do things one way, and one way only.

What works for one person may not appeal to another but, fortunately, there's almost always more than one way to accomplish the task at hand. Example: menus for mousers, keyboard shortcuts to the same menu commands for keyboard artists. I use a MS IntelliMouse Optical (much nicer than the Explorer version) and, on the few occasions when I find it necessary to go back to a previous web page, I use the "back" button on the mouse.

I say "on the few occasions" because, when I was still connecting to the internet via dialup, I got into the habit of opening links in new windows, so that when I was done I could simply close the window and not have to spend time reloading my original window if I wanted to go "back" to it. Even though I now have a cable connection, and a newer, faster computer with lots of memory, I still open links in new windows.

I mentioned in an earlier post that in Netscape Navigator 4.79, the backspace key doesn't function as a "back" key, as it does in MS IE. I should have added that it and the spacebar act as "page up" and "page down" keys.

 

I have my MS Intellimouse Explorer mouse thumb button set to "Return ".

 

We went off on a couple of different tangents from the original idea in this thread.

What I think Brett was saying earlier, when he got contradicted, was that if there is no page to go back to, there will be no "back" button, nor will there be a "back" command in the menu, because they will be ghosted, or grayed out.

This is easily demonstrated by right-clicking on a link and selecting "Open in new window ". No "back" options will be available because it's a virgin window and there's no previous page to go back to, even though the window it was opened from remains open.

 

What I think Brett was saying earlier, when he got contradicted, was that if there is no page to go back to, there will be no "back" button, nor will there be a "back" command in the menu, because they will be ghosted, or grayed out.

I agree with that.

But guess what. I got curious and had nothing else to do but see what would or would not work in 98FE and IE6.

Right Click test proven to work on BOTH mice.

One is just a two Button Wheel USB. The other is a five Button PS2.

Left and Right side buttons on the five button InteliMouse also can be programed for Back and Forward.

BUT, you do have click on the right spot of the page. I tired it while writing here and only got Undo, Copy, Paste and delete.

Outside of this box I got Back Plus the normal stuff.

BillyBob

 

Thanks for the TIp(s) folks