Deleting Temporary Files

• When your browser loads a page, it saves copies of the page and related images to your computer. This way, if you return to the page, your browser can load the copies from your computer instead of retrieving them from the Web server again. In most cases, the browser's default storage settings will be sufficient. But, you can lower this amount if you're having problems or are running low on hard drive space.

  In Netscape, select Edit… Preferences...Cache. If you can't see the Cache menu item, click on the plus sign that is just to the left of the menu item, "Advanced." In the "Disk Cache" text entry field, type a lower number. From this dialog box you can also empty the disk cache of all files and specify when Netscape should check the cache before retrieving a new copy of the page.

  In Internet Explorer, select Tools…Internet Options… General. Then, go to the Temporary Internet Files section and click on delete files.

Loading Images

• To cut down on the time it takes to load Web pages, you can turn off images. When images are turned off, only a Web page's text will appear in your window, and images will be replaced with a placeholder graphic.

  In Netscape 4.7, From the Edit...Preferences...Advanced menu, click on "Automatically load images" to remove the checkmark (if there is no checkmark next to the option, images loading is already turned off). When this option is turned off in Netscape, the toolbar will contain an Images button. Clicking this button will force images to display on the current page only.

  In Internet Explorer, Select Tools…Internet Options…Advanced. In the Multimedia category, make sure the "Show Pictures" option is unchecked

  You can still view individual images by clicking on their placeholders. To load all images on a page, click the "Images" button.

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The Master Internet Volunteer Program was developed by the University of Minnesota Extension Service and was adapted for use in North Dakota with permission. Copyright  © 2001  North Dakota State University. All rights reserved.

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