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 Delete
Files 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:
Download CCleaner Free Click Here 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).

Related Post:
CCleaner – Erasing Your Browser History Safely

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I just had, by mistake, a plug-in called Intelligent Explorer attach to my browser. What a nightmare!  I have another article on this topic, but this brings home a point.  Spyware or adware items are continually infecting computers. Most computers have no protection from them. Most frightening is the frequency of them.  From the InfosecWriters web site, “According to a 2004 survey by America Online and the National Cyber Security Alliance, 91% of users questioned were familiar with the term spyware. Only 53% believed their computers were infected, but a scan found that 80% of their PCs had some type of spyware installed on them.”  It goes on to say, “…The average number of spyware components per computer was 93 with one computer having well over a thousand.”

What is Spyware?

Butte College  (www.bctv.butte.edu/support/spyware.html) offers this definition:

“The term ‘spyware’ is broadly defined as any program that gets into your computer without permission and hides in the background while it makes unwanted changes to your user experience.

Spyware is generally not designed to damage your computer. The damage it does is more a by-product of its main mission, which is to serve you targeted advertisements or make your browser display certain sites or search results.

At present, most spyware targets only the Windows operating system (Internet Explorer).”

To be fair, spyware can be harmless, for example tracking cookies don’t do much. While such things infringe on your privacy, they don’t really harm anything. Others, however, are extremely dangerous.

So what do you do about it?

No spyware program seems to do everything, but there are a lot of goods solutions out there that can help. Here is a list of some of
the top Spyware tools to look at:

1) Try Ad-Aware 6.0 Professional from LavaSoft (there is also a free version with less functionality)

2) Spybot Search & Destroy from PepiMK Software

3) Xoftspy form Pareto Logic

4) Spyware Guard from Javacool Software is a free program

5) Pest Patrol (now part of Computer Associates by acquisition)

One thing is for certain: you do need to take spyware seriously.
For some reason, too many people out there think anti-virus solutions are the end-all solution. They are not. 

And, when all else fails?

Finally, as drastic as it seems,  if your computer has been infected with a large number of spyware programs, the only solution you may have is backing up your data, and performing a complete reinstall of the operating system.

Just what is Intelligent Explorer? For your safety, you really need to know  

I recently hit, by mistake, what I thought was an Explorer upgrade option.  It turned out to be a pop-up appearing legitimate but really was not. It uploaded a product called Intelligent Explorer on my machine.  What a nightmare!  

I did some research on the web and found messages like this one from a BullGuard Antivirus Forum,  “PLEASE HELP!!!  I HAVE A SPYWARE, TROJAN AND HIJACKER ON MY COMPUTER.  I HAVE RUN BULLGUARD, CWSHREDDER AND AD-AWARE.  ALL HAVE PICKED UP THE VIRUSES AND SAID THAT THEY HAVE BEEN MOVED/REMOVED BUT WHEN I LOG ONTO THE INTERNET THAT DAMN INTELLIGENT EXPLORER TOOLBAR IS SHOWING” 

Another message from spyware info Forum goes something like this: “Hey I’m having issues with something called Internet explorer toolbar – Intelligent explorer. I can’t find a way to remove it from my comp and I really don’t want to reinstall windows. I’ve used spybot, ad-ware, and cw shredder but nothing seems to work.” It appears that Intelligent Explorer allows other software to be downloaded to your machine and this is where the problem occurs. What is even more remarkable is that by downloading Intelligent Explorer, their license grants them the right to install software add-ins on your computer at their will.  Take a look at what the software license for Intelligent Explore says (go to http://www.ieplugin.com/terms.html to read it all): “You grant to us the right, exercisable by us until you uninstall the Software or this agreement is otherwise terminated, to provide to you the Service of downloading and causing to be displayed advertising material on your computer, through ‘pop-up’ or other display while you use your browser.  You acknowledge and agree that installation of the Software may automatically modify toolbars and other settings of your browser.  By installing the Software you agree to such modifications.” 

The company, IBC incorporated, is incorporated in Belize.  I really can’t believe this license!  

One end user found highly objectionable pop-up advertisements generated by this software bundled with Intelligent Explorer in the form of extreme pornography.  

I have yet to break this.  

Intelligent Explorer is a plug-in, which can create a new home page, as well as start up and endless loop of pop-ups. You can remove the view bar, but then starting up Internet Explorer will cause it to reappear.  I asked some friends to help, and no one could tell me what to do. 

This is what I did: 

I bought a copy of a program called XoftSpy and it removed the software. It took two scans and a reboot to do it.  They advertised it was free, which it was to run, but then I had to buy it to actually fix anything. It was a great purchase, although I am in favour of programs that are freeware such as  Spybot, NoAdware, Spyware Eliminator, and there are many other freeware products out there as well, but that is what ended the nightmare for me.

 http://www.linkbrander.com/go/34613