Often I will want to return to a previous web page but the back arrow in Windows 7 is inactive. Is there a way to go back without it? thanks, bill

   If the Back arrow is inactive, that usually means that there is nowhere to go back to.  This may happen if the previous page is in a different browser window (in other words to get to the current page you clicked on a link and it opened a new browser window with the current page in it).
   One way to go back without the Back arrow is to right click on the page and select Back from the popup menu.  But if the Back arrow is inactive, the Back item in the popup menu will also be inactive.

thanks, but does that mean the the new browser window which was opened up no longer exists?

   No, the new browser window is the one you are in that has the inactive Back button.  The old browser window should still exist unless you closed it.
   Or it is possible that you only have one browser window open and the reason why the Back arrow is inactive is because you are back to the first page that you opened in the browser.