Cache to Trash

	How to Keep your Computer Clean by The F@t Guy

Cache to Trash -Cleaning up Temporary Files.

General Cleanup:

One of the most useful things to do in defense of your machine is to keep it clean. Many viruses and spyware work right out of the temp directory or from within the browser's cache. E-mails can contain html code which is capable of loading spyware even if the email is viewed in the preview window. If these places are cleaned out often you will lessen your chances of a retained virus.

In the following chapter I used to explain how to empty many places where temporary files reside, but if you install and use CCleaner it will do the lion's share of this work in one simple interface (very highly recommended). Since CCleaner does such a good job, I no longer explain this tedious process, but I do touch on quite a bit of the things it does, just for your edification.

Temporary Files:

Windows itself and many (in fact most) programs create temporary files while running. Most of these programs, at least those which are well written, delete these temporary files when exiting, unless, of course there is a system crash or something else that prevents the program (or Windows) from exiting normally. Poorly written programs often write their temp files into their own (or any other directory) and may be the cause of mysterious files suddenly appearing in strange places.

CCleaner handles the TEMP directory for you, and looks for common .tmp files as well.

Empty Caches:

Everything (including each page) you open or download from the internet winds up in a cache somewhere on your machine. While the cache does have a size limit (older things are deleted to maintain size limits), it is a generally accepted practice to clean these caches often to kill nasties that invariably land there. Deleting caches will not hurt anything, though you may notice a lag time (at first) when using your browser until cached pages build up again. This lag time doesn't really even rise to the level of annoyance- so there really isn't a down-side.

There are several Caches on your machine, and depending upon your other installed programs, there may even be more than these:
Microsoft Internet Explorer's Temporary Internet Files.
Mozilla Firefox's Cache (If installed).
Mozilla Suite (SeaMonkey) (If installed).
Netscape's Cache (If installed).

Virually ANY/every internet browser will have a page cache, not just the browsers listed here. Also each and every browser keeps history information, cookies, form, and password information. Al of these should be cleared as well.

Internet Utilities also cache information:

The Sun Java Cache (If installed).
MacroMedia Cache (If Installed).

1. Empty IE Cache
CCleaner does this for you.

2. Empty Mozilla Cache

Cleaning Firefox:
CCleaner does this for you.

Cleaning Mozilla Suite (SeaMonkey and Netscape too)
For the sake of those using Mozilla Suite, or Netscape, I left the following information "in" because ccleaner doesn't handle these caches. You can skip this section unless using one of these browsers...

Mozilla Suite is the basis of Netscape, so the programs are very similar. The instructions here are for Mozilla Suite but should be close enough to figure out in Netscape too:

Start Mozilla Suite.
Select "Edit=>Preferences" from the standard bar.

In the side bar, expand (+) the Navigator section.
Select "History" from within the Navigator section.
Poke "Clear History" and "Clear Location Bar"

In the sidebar, expand the "Privacy & Security" section
Select "Cookies" from within the Privacy & Security section
Poke "Cookie Manager", poke "Remove All Cookies", "Poke Ok", Poke "close"

In the sidebar, expand (+) the "Advanced" section
Select "Cache" from within the Advanced section.
Poke "Clear Cache". It won't seem to do anything... but it does.

Poke "Ok" or "cancel" to close the Properties dialog.

Back to TOC...

3. Empty SUN Java Cache
CCleaner does this for you.

**Note: If your anti-virus is finding something in a path that contains sun or java and cannot get rid of the offending files it is most probable they are in the Sun Java cache. Sun Java is not suceptable to most (any) viruses, so it is not likely the virus infected you. It would be wise to delete the cache anyway to keep from being annoyed and confused when the anti-virus runs.

Empty Trash Cans:

I dunno why people refuse to throw things away. I mean REALLY throw things out. Every box I get on has a thousand things in the trash. If you mean to throw something out then THROW IT OUT! The "restore" feature of the Recycle Bin is great for the occasional "OOPS!", but it is hardly designed to keep everything you ever threw away. Can you imagine what your house would be like if you threw everything away, but wouldn't take the trash to the curb "just in case..."? How messy. How silly. Just take out the trash and be done with it! </rant>

Empty Recycle Bin:
CCleaner does this for you.