How do I use the archive?

[Steven Vollom]

I would like to know how to access and use the archive.  I believe I could 
reduce the number of questions I post as well as learn better by fighting out 
the answers.  I currently have a problem with certain programs, like 
Ktorrent, that open 2 to 3 pages longer than the screen and do not have a 
scrollbar to move the data up.  Sometimes a page will open that is twice the 
width of my 22" monitor and not have an ability to drag the edge to re-size 
the window to fit the screen. I am currently using the alt key+ holdingdown 
the left mouse button to drag the contents until readable.  If I attempt to 
re size the window by clicking on the maximize tab, nothing happens.

Some distributions work fine, while others maintain this awkward behavior.  I   
tried:  dpkg -a --configure from the konsole; still nothing changed.  TIA

Steven