If you are reading this article on Themestream then it is clear that you do have access to the Internet. However, you might not know just how this is done and it might seem like some sort of magic. Let’s see of we can clarify the best ways to do it.

First of all, in many cases you will receive a disk a CD from your Internet Service Provider, your ISP. Supposedly you could just pop this disk into your CD drive and a few spins later and you’re all set for the Internet.

I have found that this is usually more complicated than they say that it is and very often after using this disk you have to call Customer Support and they somehow help you out of the mess. In other words, the disks usually just don't work. I have found that some of the disks, such as AOL, do have more of a chance of working but even they are problematic.

The disks from Netvision or Internet Zahav or the like stand less of a chance of working and to the contrary I have found that in some cases they simply lock up the machine and cause major modifications in the system which requires a great deal of time, effort, and money to remove. In some cases I have found that the computer can no longer identify the modem and the modem itself has to be set up again from scratch hoping that the person’s original modem disk is available at the time. I’ve seen a great deal as far as when using these disks. I don't recommend them.

It’s probably better to start from scratch. Here’s what needs to be done. Don't try to do this yourself. Sit down with a techie friend who is familiar with the workings of the computer and of the Internet and have the information ready to be entered. If it’s ready then the whole procedure should not take too long at all.

What you need is as follows: the name of your ISP, and from the ISP you should get certain facts and figures as follows: You should get the ASCII ISP during a phone call for the DNS and the secondary DNS and your POP3 and your SMTP. Those are the basic needs for setting up the Internet, but in truth it’s more complicated. Basically that’s all you need in order to set up the Internet account and your email account. You’re also going to need the your email address and your password. Armed with this information your techie friend will be able to set up everything else.

There are a number of settings, they vary based upon your system and the model of the system and what you have loaded in your computer and there are many varieties and possibilities as far as the browser itself goes, but the mystery disappears once we narrow it down to these limited number of elements.

In some cases your ISP may say that you don't have to have a DNS and secondary DNS. Accept it and just tell your techie friend that situation. In some cases your ISP may say that you should not set your computer to log on to network. In which case accept what they have to say as being the best way to do it.

In some cases your ISP may say that your log-in name should be your full name including the information on both sides of the at sign (@). And in other cases they might just want the information before the @ and not including the @ itself. Listen to all of these guidelines that the ISP recommends and then give them to your techie friend.

You notice that in this article I do not try to teach you how to actually set the Internet itself. What I have done was to give you the opportunity to set it up together with someone else who does know how to do it and how to be prepared with all of the necessary information in advance. If you have all of this information, your friend should be able to do it. One more thing you should keep at hand is your Windows disk and if you have a modem disk or diskette keep that handy also. Your friend may need to use these during the course of setting up the Internet.

Don't try to do it yourself, at least not for the first few times. Perhaps after observing somebody else do it you will be brave enough to try it yourself on a computer, but there are so many variables it’s not worth it. Do try to avoid using the disk that was given by the manufacturer by the distributor, that often doesn’t work. You’re going to have to ask the distributor ISP also if it should be set up for netbui and you’re going to have to ask or if it should be removed. As far as the primary and secondary DNS you can ask the company it should be if they should be used, even so you have the numbers and if there is any change in the numbers since they suggested it.

During the setup you will be able to decide whether you want the scratchy noise indicating that your computer is going is logging in to the Internet. Some people hate that noise. I find it to be beautiful because it means that the system is at least up until this point it’s working properly.