http://www.gateway2000.com/letter/cache.htm (Amiga Plus Extra No. 5/97, 05/1997)

Clearing Browser Cache

YOUR LETTER:

This week, we're focusing on an issue no one has actually written about (and you may not even know it's an issue) but we thought we'd mention it anyway: Browser cache.

Hope it's helpful.

The Gateway Team

"Letter of the Week"

To Whom It May Concern:

Many of you come to gw2k.com to check out the latest pricing on our PCs. We've mentioned in several areas of our site that these prices get updated every Monday, in addition to various changes throughout the week, so at any time you could be seeing something new... or maybe not.

Internet browsers of all types have a "feature" known as cache: a place where pages of sites you've accessed are stored on your hard drive. If you return to a certain page that's contained in your cache, this version will be pulled up instead of what's actually been updated on the site's Web server. While of course we want you to return to gw2k.com, we don't want you to view outdated information while you're here, so this is what you can do to avoid it.

Clearing Cache with Internet Explorer

From the toolbar in Internet Explorer, choose View, then Options. This will pull up an Options menu. Click on the Advanced tab. In the center of the menu there's an area called Temporary Internet Files. This is your cache. If you choose the View Files button it will bring up a Windows Explorer-type menu showing you what's contained in your cache. That's right -- every file and graphic you've been to on the Web. From here you can select Edit from the toolbar and choose the Select All option from the drop down menu. Once these cached files are highlighted, just press your Delete key on the keyboard and they're history! Another way to "clear your cache" is to choose the Settings button from the Options menu. This brings up another window that shows you several important features. To clear your cache from here, just click the button marked Empty Folder, then choose Yes when asked for confirmation.

To avoid worrying about cached pages entirely when using Internet Explorer, try this: In the Options menu there is a set of radio buttons that allows you to choose how often you get a newer version pages stored in your cache. To be safe, click the radio button marked Every visit to the page. This will ensure you always get the latest version of anything on the Web.

Clearing Cache with Netscape Navigator

To clear your cache with Netscape Navigator choose Options from the toolbar, then Network Preferences from the drop down box. This brings up a Preferences menu. Select the Cache tab at the top. Two buttons: one marked Clear Memory Cache Now and the other marked Clear Disk Cache Now are available. Clicking each of them in turn and choosing OK at the confirmation box will completely empty your cache folder. Notice the path to your cache directory is also located in this menu if you'd like to delete your files by hand.

To prevent having to deal with cache in the future with Netscape Navigator you've got two options: Where it says Verify Documents you can choose the radio button marked Every time to be sure your files are updated every time you visit a site. You can also set the number of Kilobytes in your Memory Cache and Disk Cache to 0. But be forewarned: If you do decide to do this, some plugins that require cache - Shockwave is a good example - may not work properly.

Take care, and Happy Holidays.

Your Friends at Gateway 2000!

· 610 Gateway Drive, · P.O. Box 2000 · North Sioux City, SD 57049-2000 ·