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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) |
Troubleshooting
Right-click doesn't work. I can't use context
menus
iRider unexpectedly shuts down or prompts you to close
iRider Search doesn't work — no search results pages open.
iRider won't connect to any websites.
Why are some buttons missing from the Toolbar?
I have trouble closing PDF/Adobe Reader/Acrobat pages
iRider seems to download pages slowly. How can I speed it up?
iRider uses a lot of memory
Using iRider
How do I automatically add "www." -
".com" to an entry in the Address Bar?
How do I know whether I'm on a secure site?
How do I riffle through pages in the Page List?
How do I change the contents of the Links bar?
How do I set iRider to be my default browser?
How do I set Internet Explorer to be my default browser?
Feature Questions
Does iRider support Google Toolbar or other
Internet Explorer toolbar plug-ins?
Does iRider support AI Roboform?
Can I import bookmarks/favorites from another browser into iRider?
Does iRider support ActiveX controls or Netscape/Mozilla plugins?
Does iRider support Java, Javascript, VBScript, etc.?
Does iRider have a built-in email program?
General Questions
How do I update to the latest version of
iRider?
What rendering engine does iRider use?
Doesn't Windows have security holes?
C'mon! Isn't Microsoft evil? Isn't Mozilla/Opera/Mac/Linux the one
true path?
Is there a Linux version?
Is there a Macintosh version?
Can I order a CD and printed manual?
Troubleshooting
Right-click doesn't work. I can't use context menus
If mouse right-click is assigned to Surf-Ahead (which is the default setting), hold down the right button for a moment (a half-second) to open the context menu on any object and choose commands such as Save Image As, Copy, etc.
This and other essentials are covered in the Getting Started page that opens when you first run iRider or when you use the Help/Getting Started command. The mouse button interpretations can be changed using the Tools/iRider Options command, in the Navigation tab, under Surf-Ahead.
iRider unexpectedly shuts down or prompts you to close main
window
If the iRider main window unexpectedly disappears without an error message, or you are prompted unexpectedly to close the main window, you probably have a poorly-designed pop-up blocker on your computer. The pop-up blocker in some versions of Ad-Aware and other products erroneously closes (or tries to close) the entire iRider main window when it detects a pop-up.
The best solution is to disable or remove such a pop-up blocker from your computer. You can avoid running Ad-Aware continuously and simply run it periodically (perhaps once a week or once a month) to scan your computer for ad-ware.
iRider keeps pop-ups from interrupting you without blocking them, and you can either just ignore them or read them. Content pop-ups that you really want aren't blocked, and ads that support free websites become as innocuous as full-page ads in a magazine. See the iRider Overview for more information.
iRider Search doesn't work — no search results pages open
This can be caused by one of the following problems:
If you're using any pop-up blocking software, like AdSubtract, you may need to set options in that program to allow pop-ups on our site, irider.com. (To some pop-up blockers, the pages iRider Search opens appear to be pop-ups.) You can also temporarily disable it to see if this is the source of the problem.
There's a rare problem related to the way the search page is addressed. Please try this page (which is the same, just referenced differently):
http://www.irider.com/search/index.htm
You'll need to Copy this address and, in the Tools/iRider Options dialog, Paste (Ctrl+V) it into the "Search page location" field, replacing the old address.In rare cases, your computer may have a problem that prevents new windows (including iRider search results pages) from opening properly. Microsoft has a technical note describing how to fix this (this note may look complicated, but the steps under "Resolution" are pretty straightforward).
iRider won't connect to any websites
If other programs on your computer can connect to websites or fetch email without problems, this may be because your firewall needs to be set to allow iRider to access the Internet. The program file iRider.exe, in the folder where you installed iRider (usually C:\Program Files\iRider), should be permitted to make both incoming and outgoing connections.
Why are some buttons missing from the Toolbar?
iRider's Toolbar will selectively show or hide less important buttons if there isn't enough room on the screen to show them all. If your screen is set to 800x600 resolution and/or you have Toolbar Labels turned on, this will happen.
iRider is generally more usable at at least 1024x768 resolution, if your display supports it. As you learn the Toolbar icons, you'll probably find that you can use the View/Toolbar Labels command to turn the labels off. (In all cases, hovering over a button with the mouse will show you a button description.)
I have trouble closing PDF/Adobe Reader/Acrobat pages
Adobe Reader v6.0.0 and its associated web browser plug-in can appear to "hang" or cause a long delay before allowing a PDF to close. Updating to Adobe Reader v6.0.1 fixes this problem. You can download the update from this page on Adobe's website.
iRider seems to download pages slowly. How can I speed it up?
Adjusting the connection options can increase download speeds, but there are some trade-offs described below, and you should only do this if you often find yourself waiting for pages and believe your internet connection isn't being well-utilized. iRider's Surf-Ahead and Next Page features should help you avoid waiting in most situations.
Use the Tools menu, iRider Options command, and choose the Connection tab.
Under "Number of pages to download simultaneously," set the Minimum to 2. Depending on the results you see and the type of browsing you're doing, setting this to as high as 4 may have some effect. Setting the Minimum higher than 4 is strongly discouraged — 2 is the best setting for both download speed and program responsiveness. (Of course the Maximum needs to be at least as high as the Minimum.)
Doing this will cause iRider to download at least 2 or more pages simultaneously, if there are that many waiting to download, minimizing small delays in the download process. Note that this doesn't eliminate all delays, such as those caused by slow websites and other factors.
On certain websites, downloading multiple pages at once can make iRider less responsive — if you notice lagging response to mouse clicks or other actions, you may want to reduce the Minimum. (On current computers, lagging response is most noticeable on sites that use elaborate client-side scripts to build fancy menus or perform other tasks. When more than one page is running such a script, it can interfere with your use of any browser. Responsiveness issues can be acute on most other browsers, which download all pending pages simultaneously, and this is one reason iRider queues pages according to the Connection settings.)
A more common but less important problem with setting the Minimum higher is that pages may finish downloading in a slightly different order than they were opened. So, if you've opened a sequence of links and wish to view the pages strictly in order, you may have to navigate the Page List directly instead of using the Next Page command, or just wait a moment for the download process to get ahead of you. (This is another problem with most other browsers' practice of simultaneously downloading all pages — you may have to hunt through a forest of "tabs" looking for the next one that's finished downloading.)
Download speed problems can also be caused by other myriad issues, such as problems with your internet connection, settings in your firewall/security software, or other programs communicating over your connection while you're browsing. File swapping programs such as Kazaa can use a lot of your connection's capacity, or even cause performance issues when your connection isn't fully utilized.
iRider has sophisticated memory management features that will use available memory to speed access to open pages but release memory for use by other programs as needed when available memory drops too low. This distinquishes it from most other browsers, which rely on system virtual memory swapping if you open too many pages, resulting in very poor performance in all running programs. In iRider, you can open arbitrarily large sets of pages without difficulty.
You can set options in the Memory tab of the Tools/iRider Options dialog that control how iRider uses memory. With the default factory settings, iRider will use all but 8MB of available memory to accomodate open web pages, and will release memory when available memory starts to run low. It will release memory either because another application needs some or because iRider needs memory for other web pages. See the Memory tab description for additional details.
Using iRider
How do I automatically add "www." - ".com" to an entry in the Address Bar?
In iRider releases prior to v2.20, press Shift+Enter after typing a name like "amazon" in the Address Bar to turn it into "www.amazon.com". Note that this differs from Internet Explorer's Ctrl+Enter. Version 2.20 and later recognize Ctrl+Enter.
How do I know whether I'm on a secure site?
Versions 2.07 and later display a padlock icon in the lower-right of the main window (if the Status Bar is turned on), in locked position on secure pages and unlocked position on unsecure pages. Prior versions handle secure sites correctly, but don't display the padlock icon — if the address shown in the Address bar begins with "https:", then the current page is secure.
How do I riffle through pages in the Page List?
Click the left mouse button and drag next to the pages in the Page List, over the page titles. If your mouse has a scroll wheel (mouse wheel), this will scroll the contents of the Page List but not riffle through pages.
How do I change the contents of the Links bar?
Use the Favorites/Explore command, then click open the Links folder and copy, move, rename or delete items as you would in any Windows file window. You can also quickly add pages to the Links bar by using the Favorites/Add Pages command (or Ctrl+F8 or the Toolbar button) and adding pages to the Links folder.
How do I set iRider to be my default browser?
Use the Tools/iRider Options command, check on "Register iRider as the default browser", then click OK.
How do I set Internet Explorer to be my default browser?
You need to tell Internet Explorer to set itself as default:
Close all iRider main windows, then open Internet Explorer and choose the Tools/Internet Options command.
Click the Programs tab, check on "Internet Explorer should check whether it's default", and click OK.
Restart your computer.
After Windows starts, start Internet Explorer again and click "Yes" in the dialog that appears asking whether to set Internet Explorer as the default browser.
Sometimes Internet Explorer never displays a dialog asking whether to set it as default, even after you tell it to. In this case, you can manually make it the default by following these steps:
Go to any Windows file view, for example, open the My Computer icon on your desktop or Start menu.
Under the Tools menu, choose Folder Options, then click on the File Types tab.
Scroll down to the entry that says "(NONE) URL:Hypertext Transfer Protocol", click on it, and then click Advanced. Click on the "open" entry in the list of Actions, then click Set Default and then OK.
Repeat the previous step for the entry, "(NONE) URL:Hypertext Transfer Protocol with Privacy".
Scroll down to the file type entry for the "HTM" extension, click on it, and click "Change...". Click "Internet Explorer" and then OK.
Repeat the previous step for the entry for the "HTML" extension.
Feature Questions
Does iRider support Google Toolbar or other Internet Explorer toolbar plug-ins?
iRider doesn't support Google Toolbar or other toolbar-style plug-ins yet. We have plans for a Search bar with features similar to Google Toolbar, extended for multiple pages, and we may add support for Google Toolbar itself.
You can search from the Address Bar, and by default it's configured for Google. Any search key is also sent to the Find and Find Again commands, which by default will match any word in the key, so you can just use Find Again (Ctrl+G) to find any of them.
Does iRider support AI Roboform?
We don't support the AI Roboform toolbar yet, but Roboform version 5.3.5 and later recognizes iRider for most other functions. You can also easily access AI Roboform using the context menu:
In iRider, hold down the right mouse button for a moment (one-half second) on a page with a form and choose one of Roboform's commands from the context menu, such as Fill Forms or Save Forms. (If you don't have right-click assigned to Surf-Ahead, just right-click and choose the command.)
Roboform is set by default to include the Fill Forms and Save Forms commands. You can add other Roboform commands to this menu: use Roboform's View/Options command, choose the "Other" tab, and click the "Customize IE Context Menu and Standard Toolbar" button; in the list of commands, check on boxes under the "Menu" column for each command you want to use.
You can also use Internet Explorer's AutoCompletion feature, which isn't nearly as powerful of course, but does work in iRider.
Can I import bookmarks/favorites from another browser into
iRider?
iRider version 2.10 and later includes commands to import bookmarks from Mozilla, Netscape and Opera, so users moving over from those browsers can access them as iRider/Windows Favorites. Use the File menu, Import submenu.
Internet Explorer Favorites are already standard Windows Favorites and should be visible in iRider. If you're not seeing your Windows Favorites, it may be because you're logged-in under a different user account from the one you usually use — Favorites are maintained separately for each user account.
Does iRider support ActiveX controls or Netscape/Mozilla
plugins?
iRider supports all ActiveX controls that display embedded content on web pages, such as Flash, Quicktime, RealPlayer, Windows Media, etc. It doesn't currently support Internet Explorer toolbar plug-ins or Netscape/Mozilla plug-ins.
Does iRider support Java, Javascript, VBScript, etc.?
iRider supports all these technologies and anything supported by the version of Internet Explorer installed on your computer. (See What kind of program is iRider?, below.)
Does iRider have a built-in email program?
No. Any email links you click will be opened in your preferred email program, such as Outlook Express, Eudora, or web-based email. Links contained in email messages can be opened in iRider in one of the following ways:
Set iRider as your default browser and just click on any URLs/links in email to open them in iRider.
Select any text in a message that contains URLs/links, Copy it to the clipboard, and use iRider's Edit/Paste URLs as Pages command.
You can add a shortcut to your email program to the iRider Links bar, allowing you to just click on the icon to switch to email:
In iRider, Open your Favorites folder (F8 key) and click on the Links folder.
Locate an icon for your email program, either on the Start menu or on the Quick Launch bar, if you use that, then hold down the Ctrl key and drag the icon over to the Links folder view in iRider. (Ctrl-drag makes a copy.)
You may want to rename this shortcut (e.g., to "Mail") by clicking and holding the right button for a moment on the new shortcut and choosing Rename.
General Questions
How do I update to the latest version of iRider?
Download the setup program from the Download page and run it, installing over any previous version on your computer.
Owners of a key for version 2 can always update to any later version 2.xx release for free. Just download and run the setup — your key will automatically be recognized.
What rendering engine does iRider use?
iRider is a stand-alone program that uses Microsoft Windows components to implement basic web page display and functionality. This gives it the highest possible compatibility with the websites you use, and iRider leverages this wide compatibility and all the tools and support material available for Windows. This includes content plug-ins like Flash, Quicktime, Windows Media, Real Media, Java applets, etc. — all these facilities work right out of the box, along with any others designed for the Windows browsing platform. Windows Favorites and History are used directly, so any third-party utilities to manage these are automatically supported.
Doesn't Windows have security holes?
Critical security vulnerabilities have been discovered in Microsoft Windows and Internet Explorer, and though some of these don't affect iRider, iRider does inherit some of them. (Two recent serious security problems (1, 2) do not affect iRider.)
Users should diligently install updates available on Microsoft's website. See the Microsoft Windows Update site for updates, patches, or more information. If you use Windows XP, we strongly recommend installing Windows XP Service Pack 2.
While some security problems discovered in Windows and Internet Explorer have been serious, and Microsoft has in some ways been uniquely incompetent in this area, serious security holes have been found in all browsers and operating systems, including Mozilla (1, 2, 3, 4, 5), Opera (1, 2), Macs (1, 2) and Linux (1, 2). Both the problems with Windows and the merits of alternatives have been somewhat exaggerated by the press, and it can be very hard to separate computer industry politics from the technical facts. Virtually any complex software or device that accesses the outside world via networks, CDs, iPods, etc., is a potential security problem, especially when users don't take simple precautions.
Reports of browser security holes actually being exploited are rare: one generally needs to browse to a malicious site that's exploiting the problem, and viruses and worms are usually spread via email or other means, not via browsers.
C'mon! Isn't Microsoft evil? Isn't Mozilla/Opera/Mac/Linux the
one true path?
Sure, Microsoft looks evil, but the universe works in mysterious ways. Sometimes what seems like evil is really just unbrilliant luck and persistence that ends up winning by default (often because the brighter, more well-rounded folks were out enjoying life). And if Microsoft was really the devil, wouldn't it have assumed a more seductive form?
There's currently no Linux version of iRider, but we get lots of requests for this and are looking at ways to expedite Linux support.
There's currently no Mac version of iRider. Some Mac users love Safari, Apple's browser, but others have expressed to us their disappointment with it, so we're looking into it. The iRider developers are long-time Mac fans (from back when MS-DOS and Windows 1.x were the state of the art on PCs).
Can I order a CD and printed manual?
You can order a CD with the iRider program and demo movie from our online resellers — please visit the Buy page. We don't yet offer a printed manual.