Setting up Lynx in Windows 98:

Steps 9 and 10 may be done differently in Win95, WinME, Win2000, or WinXP.
  1. Download Lynx

  2. Unzip Lynx
    • If you have Winzip, double-click on the lynx zip file. It will probably be named lynx283rel.zip or something similar.
    • When you unzip the file, do not accept the name lynx283rel for the folder name for the Lynx files. Choose "Select Different Folder" and delete everything but the "lynx" name for the folder.
    • Choose the location where you want the installation. You can install Lynx on any drive or partition. Lynx installation does not change the Windows registry in any way.

  3. Create a temp folder.
    • Navigate to the lynx folder and create a folder called "temp" inside the lynx folder. This folder will be the location where your Options file will be saved.

  4. Open a text editor such as Notepad or any simple ascii text editor.

  5. Copy the following and paste it into your text editor (or type it):

    @ECHO OFF
    set HOME=c:\lynx
    set TEMP=c:\lynx\temp
    REM set WWW_HOME=c:\lynx\startpage.html
    set LYNX_CFG=c:\lynx\lynx.cfg
    c:\lynx\lynx.exe %1 %2 %3 %4 %5

    Note that the variables HOME, TEMP, WWW_HOME, and LYNX_CFG are in uppercase text. All of these MUST be uppercase for this file to work.

    This file is called a batch file. Save it under the name "lynx.bat" inside your lynx folder, but keep it open in your text editor.

    HOME will be the location where the bookmark file will be saved.  TEMP will be the location where the Options file will be saved.

    WWW_HOME is the page that will first open when Lynx starts.

    NOTE: I have included the WWW_HOME variable if you later want Lynx to open to your choice of home page or to an HTML file that is on your computer when it starts. If you are not connected to your ISP when Lynx starts, Lynx will shut itself down. If you want to set your own home page, delete the "REM" and type in your choice of home page or HTML file on your computer.  

    The "REM" means "remark" and denotes a line of the batch file that will NOT be executed by Windows.

    The proper format for a web page on the internet is:   set WWW_HOME= http://www.google.com

    The proper format for an HTML file on your computer is:   set WWW_HOME=g:\lynx\startpage.html
    Or:   set WWW_HOME=file://localhost/g:/lynx/startpage.html

    If you do not set the WWW_HOME variable, Lynx will open the default Lynx Information website. If you choose this option, leave the "REM" in place in the batch file. The Lynx site has all the help files so you may want to use it as your starting page until you get familiar with Lynx.

    I suggest that you leave the "REM" in the batch file until you can set the Lynx Information page as a bookmark. See below for setting bookmarks.

  6. Optional - Create a simple HTML file as your start page and put it in your lynx folder. The one used in the above example is startpage.html. Open startpage here: Start Page HTML File    Right click anywhere on this page and choose "View Source." (In Opera it is "Frame/View Source" and in Mozilla it is "View Page Source.") The HTML page will automatically open in your text editor (Except with Netscape.). Save it as startpage.html in your lynx folder. An HTML file of this type is handy as your WWW_HOME page if you want to use Lynx to surf HTML files on your computer without connecting to the web.

    In Netscape, after you have clicked "View Source," use Ctrl+a to Select All, then Ctrl+c to copy the page. Paste it into your text editor and save it.

    NOTE:   Lynx will automatically shut down if you start it without being connected to the web, unless you have the home page set to an HTML file on your computer.

  7. Edit the batch file if you have installed Lynx on any drive other than C drive.
    • Example: If you have put your lynx folder on G drive, change all of the drive letters in the above file from "c" to "g".
    • @ECHO OFF
      set HOME=g:\lynx
      set TEMP=g:\lynx\temp
      REM set WWW_HOME=g:\lynx\startpage.html
      set LYNX_CFG=g:\lynx\lynx.cfg
      g:\lynx\lynx.exe %1 %2 %3 %4 %5

  8. Save the batch file again and its done!   Close your text editor.

  9. Create a shortcut to the lynx.bat file. (This procedure may vary with Windows 95, ME, 2000, XP)
    • The batch file icon should look like a gear inside of a window. Right click and drag the batch file icon to your desktop, Quick Launch bar or Start Menu. Choose from the drop down menu "Create Shortcut."  (After you create this shortcut you can right click it, choose "Rename," and change the name of the shortcut to "Lynx" instead of the techie name "lynx.bat.")

  10. Change the icon for the shortcut. (This procedure may vary with Windows 95, ME, 2000, XP)
    • Right click the shortcut you just created. Choose Properties from the drop-down list. Choose the Programs tab, and click the Change Icon button at the bottom right of the dialog box. Choose Browse, and navigate to the lynx folder, then to the icons folder. Select a lynx icon from the icons folder and click OK and OK again. The gear icon should now be a lynx-head icon.

Starting to use Lynx

  1. Connect to your ISP. Open Lynx by double clicking on the shortcut.
    • The Lynx Information website should open.

  2. Go to a website.
    • Type "g" (for goto) and Lynx will prompt you for a web address. You may either type in the entire address: http://www.google.com, or you may just type in google.com and Lynx will auto-fill the rest. (Sometimes the auto-fill works and sometimes not.)

  3. Set the current page as a bookmark.
    • Type "a". Lynx will prompt you with three choices. The first choice, (d)ocument, will bookmark the page you are on. Type "d" and then type in a name for the bookmark and hit Enter. (Lynx chooses a name for you but you can backspace through it and type your own.) Your bookmark is set!
    • Use the left arrow key to go back to the Lynx Info web site. The left and right arrows are your "Back" and "Forward" buttons.

  4. Look at your bookmark.
    • Type "v" and your bookmark list will come up on the screen.
    • When you have added several bookmarks you can navigate those bookmarks with the up-down arrow keys. Press Enter and the highlighted bookmark will open. The up-down arrow keys work exactly the same way on websites, toggling through the links on the site.

    • TIP: The "r" key is supposed to remove bookmarks, but it doesn't work right! If you want to remove bookmarks, open the bookmark file in a text editor or HTML editor and delete the lines containing the bookmarks you wish to remove.

  5. Optional - Go to an HTML file on your own computer.
    • Type "g" and enter the file location.
    • Use this format: c:\web_pages\mysite.html
      This format uses back slashes.

    • You can also type in: file://localhost/c:/web_pages/mysite.html
      This format uses forward slashes.

  6. Optional - Set the Lynx Information page as a bookmark.
    • Navigate back to the Lynx Info page using the left arrow. This is your default Home page.
    • Set the Lynx Info site as a bookmark using the "a" key and the "d" key to bookmark the document.
    • Now you can edit the lynx.bat file to start at a home page of your choice.

    • TIP: Make a folder in your lynx folder called "backup." Make a copy of your bookmark file, original lynx.bat file and also the options file after you set your options, and keep those in your "backup" folder. You can copy or refer to these backups if you mess up the originals.

    Enjoy using Lynx!

"Setting up Lynx in Windows 98" was written by Dale Landry