Improve Your PC Speed - Step 6
Delete Temporary Internet Files
As you browse the Internet, you look at pictures, download music, videos, and web pages. Image how slow the Internet would be if you had to download those files every time you went to a web page - it would be almost unusable. To prevent this from happening you computer stores some, if not all, of these files locally on your hard drive where it can access them quickly if it needs to. Every so often your computer will get rid of these temporary files to make sure that you are seeing the most up to date version of the web page you are looking at. This is a process called caching, and it is the Internet users’ friend.
However, even your closest friends can bring unexpected guests to your party. If you only look at a web page once and never return, the cached files on your system will never be removed because the browser you used never needed to refresh them. These files can build up over time casing your computer to slow down. Most of these files would have been removed when you used the Disk Cleanup tool as described above, but if you use a web browser other than Internet Explorer (Firefox, for example) you will need to remove these files yourself. We have included instructions for removing these files in both Internet Explorer and Firefox:
Internet Explorer:
- Click on the ‘Tools’ menu, then on ‘Internet Options’
- On the first tab that opens, you will see a section called ‘Browsing history’. In this section there is a button labeled ‘Delete’, click it.
- A new window will open listing the different types of files that the browser tracks. You can delete the Temproary Internet Files, Cookies, and History without much worry. We generally do not recommend that you delete Form Data or Passwords as these are usually very useful to have automatically populated for you.
- When you are done deleting files, click ‘Close’
- Click OK, you are done.
Firefox:
- Click on the ‘Tools’ menu, then on ‘Options’
- Click on ‘Advanced’ along the top, then click on the ‘Network’ tab.
- In the section labeled ‘Cache’, click the button that says ‘Clear Now’
- Click OK, you are done.
When in doubt, contact an expert - we can help you get your computer up and running quickly in the comfort of your own home. To schedule an appointment, call 1-888-201-4131 or email info@verticalpenguin.com and someone will contact you about your request. To get the full guide and sign up for automatic maintenance reminders go to http://verticalpenguin.com/pc-speed-reminder.html
