I know that Internet Explorer keeps a local cache of web pages and other elements that appear on pages and that can speed up browsing when I return to a page I have previously visited. But how can I customise the cache settings so that I can see a refreshed page every time I go back to a site, rather than a stored, out-of-date version?
 |
To access the cache settings select Tools, Internet Options. On the General tab under 'Temporary Internet Files,' click Settings. There are four settings under 'Check for newer versions of stored pages'.
Every visit to the page. When you visit a website Internet Explorer will not look in the cache but will connect to the website and download the page again. This is the slowest option, but ensures that you always have the most up-to-date copy of the page.
- Every time you start Internet Explorer. Internet Explorer will use the cached copy of a page if you revisit it during the same browsing session. If you close Internet Explorer and restart it, then revisit a page, it will download a fresh copy. If you press the F5 key or click on Refresh, it will also download a new copy.
- Automatically. This setting is only found in Internet Explorer 5.0. It is similar to the previous setting but uses an intelligent algorithm to determine when to check if a page has changed. When you return to a page you viewed previously, Internet Explorer doesn't check to see whether the page has changed since you last viewed it, but displays the cached copy. It checks for new content only when you return to a page that you viewed in an earlier browsing session.
Over time, if Internet Explorer detects that images on the page change infrequently, it checks for newer images even less often. This is probably the best option for most users.
Never. Internet Explorer will never check the web server for newer versions of pages if a copy is found in the cache. This is the fastest option, but you run a good risk of seeing out-of-date pages.
Note that because most ISPs operate a proxy server, which is a web page cache kept by the ISP, you cannot guarantee that you are seeing the latest copy of a page even if you choose the first option. Even if you have not configured Internet Explorer to use a proxy server, your ISP may have set things up in such a way that you automatically use it.
|
Introduction | Internet