a:visited

Is this the right group to ask:

If I use a style sheet that specifies a color for an active link, the color appears, but only if I use the "back" button in IE 5.0.  

But if I write a hyperlink on my page to return to the previous page, the color for a visited link is not displayed when I use the link that I wrote.  

Is there a way to write my hyperlinks that point to previous pages such that the a:visited-link-color will be displayed?

Thanks for any help.