Clearing Your Browser’s Cache

This post was written by admin on May 3, 2007
Posted Under: Free PC Security, Free Program, Temp Files

Clearing Your Browser's Cache
Often referred to as the cache, the Temporary Internet Files folder contains a kind of travel record of the items you have seen, heard, or downloaded from the Web, including images, sounds, Web pages, even cookies. Typically these items are stored in the Temporary Internet Files folder.

Storing these files in your cache can make browsing the Web faster because it usually takes your computer less time to display a Web page when it can call up some of the page's elements or even the entire page from your local Temporary Internet Files folder.

Your browser's cache stores the contents of all the Web pages that you have visited during a session. To safeguard your information and prevent another user from viewing what you have entered, you should clear the cache memory after you have completed the application.

To clear your browser's cache, follow the instructions below:

All those files stored in your cache take up space, so from time to time, you may want to clear out the files stored in your cache to free up some space on your computer. This is called clearing the cache.

You can adjust your Internet Explorer 6 settings to automatically clear the cache whenever you close Internet Explorer 6.
Go to the Tools menu, and click Internet Options.

Click the Advanced tab.
In the "Settings" box, scroll down to the section labeled "Security," and click to check the box next to the "Empty Temporary Internet Files folder when browser is closed" option.
Click OK to finish.
This option does not delete cookies, but it will clear your cache of other files when you close your browser.

If you tend to go online a lot and have ample space on your computer, you might want to increase the size of your Temporary Internet Files folder.
Why? Because Internet Explorer 6 will read already-viewed files from the cache first rather than take the time to download the same page from the Web, thus saving you time and money.

Adjusting How Often to Update
While it's true that the more files you can load from your hard disk, the faster your browsing speed, it's also true that those pages on the Web might have changed since being stored on your computer.

You might not want to miss fresh content just to save a little time. Fortunately, in addition to the size of the cache, you can also customize how often Internet Explorer 6 checks the Web for updated content.

First you will need to go to the Internet Explorer 6 Settings box:
1. On the Tools menu, click Internet Options. The Internet Options box should open to the General tab.

2. On the General tab, in the Temporary Internet Files section, click the Settings button. This will open the Settings box.

3. In the Settings box, there are four ways to check for newer versions of pages that are stored in the Temporary Internet Files folder:

• Every visit to the page:
You're assured of the most current content, but it's slower to browse previously viewed pages.

• Every time you start Internet Explorer 6:
On your first visit to a page, Internet Explorer 6 will check for new information, but not on subsequent visits in the same browsing session.

• Automatically:
Internet Explorer 6 will check automatically for any new content.

• Never:
This option is fastest, but you could be viewing old content from the cache. To refresh the page, press the F5 button on your keyboard - this will connect you to the page on the Web and download new information to the Temporary Internet files folder.

Try several combinations of these options and cache size to find the best fit for your needs. You may need to use the settings for a few days to fully gauge how they are working.

Netscape 6.x, 7.x and 8.x users:
Select Edit, then Preferences.
Select Advanced from the Category listing.Select Cache.
Select the Clear Disk Cache button then the Clear Memory Cache buttons.
Select OK.

Internet Explorer 7.x:
Select Tools, then Internet Options.
Select the General tab at the top.
Under Browsing History, select the Delete button.
Select the Delete Files buttons next to Temporary Internet Files.

Internet Explorer 5.x and 6.x users:
Select Tools, then Internet Options.
Select the General tab at the top.
Select the Clear History button.
Select Yes to confirm.
Select Delete Files.
Select OK.
Select OK to close the Internet Options Screen.

AOL 9.0:
Select Settings.Select the Essentials tab.
Select the Internet (Web) option.
Select the General tab.
In the Temporary Internet Files area, select the DeleteFiles button, and select OK.

AOL 8.0:
Select Settings.
Select Preferences.
Select the Properties option.
In the Temporary Internet Files area, select the DeleteFiles button, and select OK.

AOL 5.0-7.0 and AOL Explorer 1.2 users:
Select System Information.
Select the Utilities tab.
Select the Clear Browser Cache.

Mozilla Firefox 2.0 users:
Select Tools.
Select Options.
Select the Advanced option.
Select the Network tab.
Select the Clear Now button.

Mozilla Firefox 1.5 users:
Select Tools, then Clear Private Data.
Select the Browsing History, Saved Form Information, Cache and Authenticated Sessions options.
Select the Clear Private Data Now button.

Use a “wipe” utility program, which overwrites the entire hard drive and makes the files unrecoverable.

Use CCleaner available for free and when installed select ‘Options’ then select ‘Settings. Under the heading ‘Secure Deletion’ click the ‘Secure file deletion (Slower)’ radio button and change the setting to Guttman (35 passes).