Clear Your Browsing History

Q.  When I enter a Web site address into the address bar of Internet Explorer, the address pops up before I finish typing. Is there any way to prevent that?  I’d also like to delete sites from the drop-down list that appears to the right of the address field, which also displays sites previously visited.

A.  Most browsers store visited Web site addresses in the drop-down address bar menu. That’s considered a feature, designed to enable you to easily return to a previously visited site. It may also come as a surprise (pleasant or not) that browsers save images from visited Web sites. That’s also considered a feature, but as we’ve seen so many times before, when it comes to software, one person’s feature is another person’s annoyance, so both can be avoided.

Your browser’s AutoComplete function will display previously visited addresses as you type in the first few letters of the address. It’s designed to save time, but if you ever make a tpyo when entering a Web address and wind up at Randy Rudy’s “Porn-To-Be-Wild” Web site, you don’t need that showing up when little Emily presses the letter “P” to visit the Piggly-Wiggly Web site.

To clear out Web addresses and saved images in Internet Explorer 6, click Tools > Internet Options. On the General tab, click the Delete Files button to remove cached (saved) images. To remove visited Web site addresses, click the Clear History button. I also click the Delete Cookies button.

Next, click the Content tab, followed by the AutoComplete button.  On the AutoComplete Settings screen you’ll see where you can enable the AutoComplete function for Web addresses, Forms, Usernames and Passwords, as well as two buttons for Clear Forms and Clear Passwords.  I like the AutoComplete functions, so I keep them all enabled, but several times a year I’ll click the Clear Forms and Clear Passwords buttons, just to clean house.

IE 7 users, click Tools > Internet Options. On the General tab, under Browsing History, click the Delete button. Click the Settings button for additional options. On the Content tab, in the AutoComplete section, click the Settings button where you can then enable AutoComplete functions as described for IE 6 users above.

Mozilla Firefox users, click Tools > Options > Privacy tab, then click the Settings button and select the items you would like cleared or retained. Once you’ve made your selections, click the “Clear Now” button. On the Privacy tab, under “Private Data,” you also have the option of selecting “Always clear my private data when I close Firefox,” which enables you not to think about clearing your private data.

Netscape 7 users, click Edit > Preferences > Navigator, then click the Clear History and Clear Location Bar buttons. To crumble cookies, from the Category listing on the left, select Privacy & Security > Cookies > Managed Stored Cookies > Remove All Cookies. Next, from the Category list on the left, select Advanced > Cache > Clear Cache.

Mr. Modem’s Sites of the Week:
BBC’s Country Profiles
Geography buffs and travelers will appreciate this site’s many historic, economic, and political profiles on nations around the globe. The site also provides information about well-known international organizations. Scroll through the list and read about global entities such as the Red Cross, WTO, NATO, and the African Union.  The site also covers subjects of international interest such as the environment, technology, and business.
http://tinyurl.com/yps76q

Historical Timelines
History buffs can explore a long list of timelines in categories as diverse as History and Cultures, Science & Technology, Arts & Literature, Popular Culture & Current Events, and Science Fiction.  Under Popular Culture, I selected the McDonald’s Timeline and was presented with an outline containing fascinating historical McNuggets.  For example, did you know that in 1955, total sales for the company were only $193,000? In 1965, when MCD went public, 100 shares would have cost $2,250. With splits, that investment would be worth approximately $4.4 million today. Please forgive my weeping. 
http://tinyurl.com/ynsznw

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