Cleaning my Cache in Netscape

Here is a mini-lesson on how to reduce hard disk clutter from Netscape use (too much junk in your cache can cause Netscape to crash, eventually).

From the Netscape Browser (NOT the e-mail In Box):

• On the File Menu line, select under Edit
• Preferences
• Set "Pages in history expire after [ ] days" to 1 (you'll only have to do this once) Always click on the Clear History Button, then OK
• Always click on the Clear Location Bar Button, then OK
• On the left side in the window, where it says [+] Advanced, double-click on that
• You'll see Cache, Proxies, Smart Update
• Click on Cache
• To your right you will see buttons for Clear Memory Cache (click on it and answer OK), and Clear Disk Cache (also click on it and answer OK)

These steps will clear out the History of where you have surfed, the locations you have typed in (if any), and the pictures/web page copies on your hard drive from any sites you have visited. How the web browser works is that everything you see in your web browser first copies itself to your hard drive "cache", then is viewed. When you exit Netscape, these files are NOT automatically deleted.

However, your web traffic is still monitored, so do not go to non-work related sites. They can tell that your machine is connected to a website that is not exactly kosher...!

Also, under C:\Program Files\Netscape\Users\youruserID (or something pretty similar to that) there will be a file called cookies.txt. Every couple of weeks or once a month, depending on how much surfing you do of external sites, you'll want to blow this file away. When you visit certain external sites, they write to your "cookie" file, giving you an identification number of some sort (you can double-click on the file to see what kind of information is in there). Sites like Amazon.com (especially e-commerce sites) use this to track their visitors and their buying habits. However, since it's a way to tell where you've been and what you've seen, you want to get rid of it every now and again. If you visit a site that uses cookies, it will create a new one, so it's no problem to delete it, but it's like crabgrass - it will keep coming back. You don't want to go into your preferences and turn off cookies, though, because certain sites won't work without them.

Hope this is helpful - now behave while using your Netscape!

> By the way, where is this c:\programfiles\netscape\users\youruserID you were prompting about? (since you now have me concerned)

Just go to start, find, files or folders, and type in cookies.txt. Every 2 - 4 weeks, delete it. No biggie, but I tend to get rid of my cookies every month or so. More frequently if I'm ordering from Amazon, etc. Because if I go to Amazon, then I go to Barnes and Noble, they can see that I went to Amazon. If I go back there, then they can see that I went to Barnes and Noble, and came back. So can anyone else who peeks at your cookie file. Like certain <company name> intranet sites. Just basically assume that whatever you are doing is in full view of the entire company. :) Does this help?