Temporary Internet Files, also known as the Browser cache are files that are stored on your computer by an Internet browser such as Internet Explorer or Netscape. The purpose of these files is to speed up the loading of websites that you visit frequently by keeping copies of the web pages and graphics on your computer.
Let's say for example you visit Yahoo.com often. Instead of having to download the pages from the server each time the browser looks in your Temporary Internet Files and finds the graphics and web page files for Yahoo.com and loads them from your hard drive which is faster than loading from the server each time. Lets look at how to access the settings for your Temporary Internet Files in Internet Explorer.
To access the settings for the Temporary Internet Files first you have to go to the menu at the top of your Internet Explorer Browser and click on Tools, then Internet Options as shown in the graphic.
Once you do so that will bring up the Internet Options screen and on the Internet Options screen there is a section that says Temporary Internet Files as shown in the next graphic.
In this section there are three buttons. Delete Cookies, Delete Files and Settings. Delete Cookies removes any cookies that have been stored on your computer by websites, we'll take a deeper look at cookies in a later issue. Delete Files allows you to delete all the Temporary Internet Files from your computer. Settings allows you to change the settings of your Temporary Internet Files, let's have a look. Click on the Settings button and that will bring up another screen as shown below.
On this screen you can do a few things. You can choose how often Internet Explorer looks for updated versions of pages that are stored in your Temporary Internet Files. I prefer to have this set to Every visit to the page.
The next section shows you the current location where the files are stored. It is normally C:\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\.
Then you can choose the amount of disk space that the files use up. Once it reaches the limit you set it will not add any more files. I like to set this to 20MB.
Finally, the last three buttons allow you to Move Folder or move the folder that holds the temporary files, View Files allows you to view all the Temporary Internet Files and View Objects allows you to view items such as programs you have downloaded.
Hopefully this lesson has given you some insight into the purpose of Temporary Internet Files and how to work with them. In the next issue we'll examine Cookies, what they are and how they affect your computer.
Scott Gardiner is a computer instructor in the Toronto area who operates computer classes for adults and older-adults. He also publishes computer newsletters containing tips, tricks and lessons for beginners. You can visit his website at www.computer-eaze.com or if you need assistance with your computer, call (905) 857-3104.
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