Let's start fresh.

Understandably, many new Internet users aren't aware that the default browser start pages can be easily changed. The browser or equipment makers like it that way.

With the hype attendant on the hyper-growth of e-business, start pages have mutated into "portals," with a bunch of links to a variety of generic categories, usually in alphabetical order, which may or may not coincide with your interests.

Portals like Yahoo, Excite and Netscape Netcenter allow you to customize the links. But these customizations are half measures, self-limiting and grow stale. You can make any web page your start page. An easy way to do this in Netscape, for example, is to navigate to a page you like, click Edit, Preferences, then in the "Home page" section click "Use current page."

If, rather than the same old page each time, you'd like to be surprised with new perspectives on subjects related to your interests, try www.prolaunch.com. Prolaunch is a free service that launches a different website each time you open your browser. You select your areas of interest via a member profile and can change them at any time.

It makes for a pleasant diversity, and I found almost all the pages worth a look. As a bonus, Prolaunch awards points for using its service, redeemable for frequent-flyer miles or other rewards. You also get points for referring others. Feel free to say you were referred by maizell@juno.com -- I can use the points!

But let's start even fresher. There's no need to have any web site at all as your start page. You can easily make your own. Even better, you can load it directly from your hard drive rather than from the web, so it loads instantly.

Page1 is a free utility to create a custom start page reflecting your personality and tastes.

Make a directory (folder) on your drive called Page1. Go to www.pcmag.com, click Downloads, and enter "Page1" in the search box. Download and save it to the Page1 directory you just made, then unzip it.

It's installed, no "setup" required.

Right-click a blank spot on the Desktop; click New, Shortcut, Browse to the Page1 directory. Select Page1.exe, click Open, name the shortcut, click Next, Finish. You now have a Page1 icon on your screen. Double-click it and in a few minutes you'll be on your way to a new start in your web life.

When I make web pages I keep colors and graphics to a minimum, so that the page loads quickly. But your start page loads from your hard drive so let your fancy run free. Click Project, Open to see three sample pages which you can use as templates if you wish, or just to get a general idea of how a page might be laid out. You can preview your page before saving it.

I called mine Jerry's Start Page, and selected Arial Bold Silver for the headings, on a burgundy background. Page1 includes some GIF graphics for convenience, but there are thousands available for free downloading.

I put a picture of myself at the top. (Well, it's my page, right?!) And some animated bullets for each link.

But beware the law of unintended consequences. Changing your viewing point may also change your point of view.

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