Cache and Speed Up Internet!
Your Internet browser's cache setting gives it the ability to store web pages you visited and also check for newer web pages. You could gain more speed by setting your browser to never check for newer versions of web pages. This would load pages that you have already visited right off the cache of your computer (temporary Internet files). This provides lightning fast downloading of web pages. Of course there is a danger that you will miss any new content on the page. You would have to click refresh every time you suspected new material is on the page. Not an enjoyable way to surf. Another problem is if you set your browser's cache too high, the accumulation of Internet files may bog down performance.
Gaining performance through caching in your browser allows you to speed up Internet performance but you lose the assurance that you are viewing the most recent page. To optimize your cache settings, open Internet Explorer and click on Tools, then Internet Options. Now under the General tab click Settings for Browsing History (Temporary Internet Files in Older Versions). Now make your selection on how you want your browser to check for new pages. In older versions, you can click the ? (Question Mark) in the top right and then move your cursor to any selection and click. This will give you the details of each selection. I prefer Automatically since the browser will learn to adapt to each page over time. This tends to leave less junk on your PC and concentrates more on the pages you visit frequently.
How to set your Internet Explorer browser cache.
Setting the browser's cache size. We are now going to set the Amount of disk space to use. I use 5MB and find it works fine. The lower you set it, the less pages your browser will be able to keep track of for fast loading. In general, you should allocate at least 5MB (some people prefer 10MB - your call) or about 5-10% of your available hard drive space. Please note - if you download a lot of larger files, it is best to keep the cache a larger size. Example - if the file you want to download is 50MB, you should have at least a 60MB cache - the extra 10MB is just for Internet buildup. This way, if you're disconnected, the file will resume by using the cache instead of starting over. If you want a large cache size, please clean it out regularly (next paragraph) to avoid bogging down your hard drive. Or simply set the cache size higher before downloading large files, then return to 5-10MB when done.
Let's clean out the cache. I usually do this after every Internet session for security reasons and to keep all sites fresh the next time I visit them. In Internet Explorer, click on Tools, then Internet Options. Under the General tab (default) click Delete and choose each selection. Older versions - click on Delete Files, then check the box Delete all offline content.
Accelerator Programs Use Cache Technology
There are a few programs now available that increase internet speed by using cache technology through their own servers. This works by the service capturing and storing web pages even before you visit them. They usually only store the major sites that people visit the most such as Amazon, Yahoo, etc. This means that other smaller sites will not be shown faster.