6th September 2001

When was the last time you flipped a switch? Probably right before you sat down at your home computer. Did you know that some programs have switches, too? That's right! You can toggle built-in features just by adding a slash (or a dash) immediately followed by another character. By now, you're used to double-clicking icons to launch programs and documents. But when you know the name of an executable, you can "Run" it from the Start Menu (as long as it's in the system path). Internet Explorer is IEXPLORE.EXE. Tap WIN+R to launch the Run applet (or click on "Run" in the Start Menu). Now, enter: "IEXPLORE" (sans quotes). Aha! Now, go back to the Run applet and enter: "IEXPLORE -e" (sans quotes). You'll get the best of both worlds in the same window: the Windows Explorer on the left and Internet Explorer on the right. Nifty, eh? Okay, now try this: "IEXPLORE -slf" (sans quotes). This will load your home page from IE's cache (if it's still stored there). "IEXPLORE - channelband" (sans quotes) will launch your Favorites as a Desktop item. Not incredibly useful, but head-tilting, nonetheless. Go ahead... IEXPLORE the opportunities!