-
Cache (Temporary Internet Files): When a web page is requested and
delivered to your browser, the images and documents associated with the
web page are saved in a temporary Internet file or cache so that the
next time they are requested; they are accessed from your computer and
not over the web (unless a change has occurred). Support Internet
Explorer, Netscape, Mozilla Firefox.
-
Cookies: A cookie is a
small message of text stored on your computer. The main purpose of
cookies is to identify users and possibly prepare customized Web pages
for them. When you enter a Web site using cookies, you may be asked to
fill out a form providing such information as your name and interests.
This information is packaged into a cookie and sent to your Web browser,
which stores it for later use. The next time you go to the same Web
site, your browser will send the cookie to the Web server. The server
can use this information to present you with custom Web pages. So, for
example, instead of seeing just a generic welcome page you might see a
welcome page with your name on it.
-
Visited URL History: Browser such as IE/Netscape/Firefox saves web
pages, images from visited web sites into your hard drive whether you
click on them or not, so that next time when you visit you won't have to
re-download the image. But this means that many megabytes of data of all
types get saved to you hard drive. Anyone who can use your PC can tell
where you have been browsing on the web.
-
Recently Typed URLs:
Any website addresses you manually type into the address bar are stored
and displayed in the address drop-down box. Selecting this option will
safely remove the record of typed in addresses.
-
IE index.dat files:
There are multiple Index.dat files in different directories that keep a
copy of whatever there is in that folder and they continue keeping those
records even after you have deleted the contents of those folders. These
files can be very hard to find and erase. If you are in Windows, even
with "Show hidden files and folders" enabled, these files are not
visible and cannot be found if you do a search for these files. The
reason that these files are so invisible is that they are not just
hidden, they have been designated as "system" files. System files and
folders are treated differently in DOS and Windows and are effectively
cloaked from casual searches.
-
Last Download location:
Files and file components that you have downloaded from the web are
stored in directories on your computer. Examples are Active X and Java
Applets. Sometimes these files are harmless, sometimes they can contain
virus, spy ware, or ad ware applications.
-
Autocomplete History:
Browser can store a record of almost everything that you typed into
any web site form. Form data can be things such as all the keywords you
have ever typed into a search engine and personal information such as
your name and address.
-
Preferences: These
settings are preferences you set in Netscape or Firefox from the
Edit menu. This option deletes any changes you made
to the preferences and sets them back to the default settings.
