The Home page is the very first page that a web browser goes to when you first open it up. There a several default home pages that microsoft has used over the years but many people prefer their own personal favourite.

Windows XP originally shipped with Internet Explorer Version 6 as its web browser. IE6 has become fairly dated and if your computer is connected to the internet and the machine is configured to perform Windows updates automatically then it is very unlikely that you will still have Internet Explorer 6. By now the computer would have updated itself to at least Internet Explorer Version 7 or 8. Internet Explorer Version 7 is documented in the Windows Vista section of this website and Internet Explorer Version 8 is examined in the Windows 7 pages.

To find out which version of Internet Explorer your computer uses click on Help on the menu underneath the address bar and then click on About Internet Explorer. This will tell you what version of Internet Exlorer is installed on your computer.

To change your homepage open up Internet Explorer by whatever method you usually would and click on Tools then Internet Options. Tools is located on the menu below the tool bar on Internet Explorer 6. If this menu is not visible try pressing the right ALT key on your keyboard.

A new box will appear on your screen titled Internet Options. Internet Options allows you to change many settings and program features related to your internet connection and is not limited only to Internet Explorer. The very first option in Internet Options is to change your homepage and this can be found at the very top of the General tab, the first tab that is visible when you open internet options.

The above screenshot shows the home page section of Internet Options more clearly. You can see a white box under the words You can change which page you use for your home page. Type the address of the page that you would like to be your home page into the white box.

There are three buttons on the bottom of the home page section of Internet Options, Use Current adds the page you are currently viewing as a homepage tab, Use Default restores the default homepage that IE ships with and Use Blank will give you a blank page.

Once you are satisfied with the changes you have made click OK on the bottom of Internet Options and your new homepage tabs should be saved. You can test them by clicking on the Homepage button on the top of Internet Explorer.