ourcar.co.uk - best value used cars for sale at the car dealers in west greater london area

Visitors to large websites frequently have problems with navigation and get completely lost, although this is usually due to the site design, not its size. Despite its size, the ourcar site is user friendly, even including this instruction and tutorial page for the newcomer!

The OURCAR.CO.UK Site is 'Interactive' - ie: you can enter information on specific pages including the CARS WANTED database page, search, and market research pages. You will also find Email addresses on some pages. If you wish to use that facility simply click on the address, enter your message on the form that appears, and click 'send' - (don't over use CAPITALS in emails - it may be taken to indicate aggression or shouting'!)

Very few websites contain photos of the size and quantity of those on the ourcar site. The usual reason given is that lots of large photos take too long to load (fully appear). However in reality, the reason is that it is much cheaper to publish a site using small photos, due to the lower hosting and bandwidth charges, and there is probably less creation work required as well. We believe that anyone contemplating one of the biggest purchases of their life, needs to see more than the usual tiny photos, and judging from the feedback we receive, site visitors and our clients agree with us

So remember, due to the downloading of large amounts of data, pages with large detailed photos will be slower to load than others - be patient. Of course, if you have a high speed broadband connection you will wonder why we bother to mention it! Loading speed is also greatly effected by the number of users on the Internet at that time, in fact at peak usage times it is possible for 'internet traffic jams' to occur, regardless of whether you are using a dial up or an ADSL connection

NAVIGATION - or how you move around the site.

The first page on a website is called the HOME page. On the ourcar site you then go to the CONTENTS page, from where you access every section on the site. Links to the dealers websites and other feature pages are grouped together here, so you are rarely more than one click away from the contents page. Look upon the CONTENTS page as your 'base'

Occasionally a message may appear on your screen stating that a selected page or website does not exist or cannot be displayed. Usually this is due to nothing more sinister than high internet usage putting, amongst other things, excessive load on our servers. You should return to the previous page by using your on screen back button, and try again. If the problem persists you may have to try later

If we provide you with a link to another site, you return to the ourcar site by clicking on your onscreen BACK button ( < )

Click here for . . .		<< Return to contents

1. If you are currently viewing hardly legible ultra small text, open Internet Explorer, click 'View/Text size/largest', and view web pages in comfort

2. Always maximise your screen. This is not just to make viewing more comfortable, it is because most web pages only display correctly on a maximised screen

3. Your F5 key (or right clicking on the page and clicking refresh) allows you to reload the current page with the latest version on our servers. This can be very useful as the Cache in many PC's will retain the last displayed version of a page despite a later version being published. This can be a cronic problem with some PC's, and not only cheaper ones

4. The ourcar site is optimised for viewing with 'Internet Explorer'. Most systems will already have this browser program installed, but for security reasons you should ensure you have upgraded to the latest version (free of charge) at www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/default.htm

5. And finally, you should include the prefix www. in a website address, although some sites can be found without using it

ALERT!

Published by Ourcar.co.uk in the interests of Internet security

VIRUSES

2007 UPDATES: This feature is intended to help you discover the ourcar site, but we would be irresponsible if we did not warn the newcomer of the danger of Viruses. Generally the risks come when opening email and attachments which could contain malicious programs capable of causing havoc with your system and any others it can communicate with after accessing your address book. Do not open 'junk' email or click on hyperlinks in email (the text of the link is meaningless - its what the hyperlink requests that is significant). The subject line may tell you whether or not an email should be opened, but some virus scripts have the ability to 'copy' a subject line that is known to you. Malicious senders and junk mailers have become very inventive, and will continue to do so - 'You have won a Holiday' means at best you are about to get a load of rubbish, or possibly something much worse - DELETE IT! If you receive an email & attachment which may be of some importance, but you are unsure, note the senders address and request more information - particularly of the attachment and its source. All the usual precautions should still be applied however.

We advise anyone that uses their PC to access the internet to ensure they are using the latest updated version of Internet Explorer (as opposed to earlier versions which have vulnerabilities) and to invest in Firewall and Virus protection software such as that marketed by Symantec (Norton), and keep it up to date. Those likely to transfer or download data from CD-ROMs or floppy disks that may be unsafe, should also run such Virus protection programs. It takes very little time to scan a disk, and it could prevent a major catastrophe.
Free updates and security patches from www.microsoft.com

SPYWARE

Spyware, as the name implies, is an uninvited program that resides in your computer relaying information about what websites you visit, which keys you use (for passwords, credit cards etc) back to marketing companies, and in the case of key stroke logging, back to criminals who can now use your card and bank details for their own benefit. Firstly, install (foc) a good spyware detection program such as that marketed by www.lavasoft.com in Sweden - its a totally free download, so there are no excuses not to have and use it. Spyware will not usually be detected by antivirus programs, so be careful about accepting every user agreement that is offered to you - make sure it doesnt include 'free' spyware! Worst offenders are the big music download and entertainment sites. Run regular scans and respond accordingly

By now you are thinking the internet is a dangerous place! - well its as dangerous as you allow it to be, so be one step ahead and you'll have very few problems

Dont say you havent been warned

ARE WE PARANOID AND BEING ALARMIST? Well some of the most protected systems and networks have been wrecked by viruses - the Pentagon US Defence Centre computer network was bought to a standstill by a virus with a particularly nasty payload, which it is alleged, originated from the UK! If you do not know what a virus is, go to one of the major search engines below and enter VIRUS. You will be able to learn all about this ever present problem.