What are Temporary Internet Files and what do they do?

Temporary Internet Files are files that are stored on your computer so that certain Internet Pages that you frequent will load faster. This is done so if you go to www.foxsports.com everyday the page will load faster as only changes that have been made to the page need to be downloaded via the Internet. Anything that hasn't changed would be stored on your PC thereby allowing the web page to load faster. They can be pieces of pages (header or buttons) or an image even. These files while harmless in most regards can eventually take up an enormous amount of space on your hard drive if you don't periodically clean them. Sometimes this can even run into the Gigabyte range.

This can cause your machine to run slower while surfing the Internet and even while not surfing. The more files and data that are on your PC, the more your processor has to search through to find what it is looking for. Your Processor may have to scan through thousands and thousands of Temporary Internet Files just to open up a Document or folder. While this time may not seem like much, be it a few seconds, it increases the amount that the PC has to work. This could mean longer scans for your Anti virus software as it would have to scan each item.

Thankfully there is a pretty easy solution to this problem. You simply can delete your Temporary Internet Files through Internet Explorer or Firefox.

Depending on which version of Internet Explorer you have the process may be different. For Internet Explorer 7 and Internet Explorer 8, while you have the browser open, click on Tools, Options/Internet Options. Once in here make sure you are on the General Tab of Internet Options and click Delete under Browsing History. If you don't want to delete your cookies or your history be sure to remove the check mark. Click Delete button. Close the window and you are done.

If you use Firefox, the process is similar depending on what version you are using. The latest version Firefox 3.5 is quite easy. While the browser is open, click on Tools, Clear Recent History. Again be sure to remove any check marks from anything you don't wish to be deleted. Older version of Firefox are Tools, Clear Private Data, place check marks what you wish to delete and then click Clear Private Data Now. Congratulations you have just deleted temporary internet files from your PC!!

There are some programs available on the Internet that are more thorough than these two here but they may require some technical savvy. At Zolex PC we use a few of them but they are not recommended for the average user. By deleting your Temporary Internet files you can surf the Net just a bit faster and help your PC stay healthy. You should clean your Temporary Internet Files around once a month or so. Thanks for taking the time to read today's blog.

Steve
www.zolexpc.com