Last Update 03/28/2008

Please note that this computer may store records of Internet pages you visit.  If you share a computer with someone who is hurting you, you can take a couple of steps to make sure that you leave no trace of the information you are viewing.

First – If you want to download a file, save it to a disk--not to your hard drive. Choose the “A” drive, not the “C” drive.

Second - When you visit websites, your computer keeps a record. People using the computer after you may be able to track what you did, unless you erase the traces of your visit. See below for how to do this. It is not difficult.

Third - Remove the record your computer makes of the files you open and read.  When ever you look at a downloaded image, or Word file, when you type a letter or anything like that, your computer puts that file on the "Document" bar (its off of the "Start" bar in Windows next to favorites and settings).  The remove the files on that list you just looked at, click on the start button and mouse over the "Settings" button.  Then click on the button that says "Taskbar and Start Menu."  A window will pop up.  Click on the "Start Menu Options" and then click the button that says "Clear".

If you are really worried you may also want to open several "innocent" files in the program used to look at the document you want to hide until the names of the files you were looking at have been "replaced" by the names of the "innocent" files.  Many programs like Word have the option to open recently used documents.  Usually this feature is under the "file" tab of the program. 

To erase the record of your visit, you must know which web browser you are using.

How do I know which web browser I am using? Look at the top of this page in the colored bar. You will probably see the name of one of the three most popular web browsers – Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox or Netscape. This is the name of your browser. You can verify the name and check the version by clicking on the word “Help” at the top of the screen. A menu will appear. Highlight and click on the bottom item, which will say ”About Explorer" or "About Navigator/Communicator”. Click on this and the number you will see after the browser name is the version of the web browser you are using.

Now you can erase the information about web pages you visit:

These instructions may work in earlier versions of Internet Explorer,Mozilla, and Netscape.  If you are not using one of these, your browser probably has a similar way to erase the information about the web pages you visited.  If the instructions below do not apply to the web browser you are using, try your web browser's "Help" menu and look for instruction to "Clear the Cache" and to "Clear the History."

Internet Explorer:

·         On the menu bar, click "Tools."

·         On the drop down menu, click "Internet Options."

·         A box appears with several tabs along the top.  You should already be on the "General" tab.

·        Under the "General" tab, in the middle of the box, look for the label "Temporary Internet Files" and the "Delete Files" button.  Click the "Delete Files" button to clear the cache.

·     At the bottom of the box, look for the label "History" and the "Clear History" button.  Click the "Clear History" button to erase the history file.

·         Close the browser software.

·         It should not be necessary, but you may also want to restart the computer to be sure that your changes have been applied. To do that, save your information to a disk (drive “A”), eject the disk, and then go to the start button in the bottom left corner of your screen. Click on it and then choose “Shut down” and then “Restart” your computer. Click on OK.

Netscape

·         On the menu bar, click "Edit."

·         On the drop down menu, click "Preferences."

·         In the lower right part of the box that appears, look for buttons that say "Clear History" and "Clear Location Bar."

·         Click both buttons.

·         In the window at the left side of box, double click the word "Advanced"--you will see a list appear under the word.

·         Click the word "Cache" and the right side of the box will change.  You should see two buttons labeled "Clear Memory Cache" and "Clear Disk Cache."

·         Click both buttons, and then click the "OK" button.

·         Close the browser software.

·          It should not be necessary, but you may also want to restart the computer to be sure that your changes have been applied. To do that, save your information to a disk (drive “A”), eject the disk, and then go to the start button in the bottom left corner of your screen. Click on it and then choose “Shut Down” and then “Restart” your computer. Click on OK.

Erasing A Trace of Your Visit While Using AOL as a Search Engine:

After you have finished gathering information on AOL, but while you are still signed on, click on “My AOL”. 

1.      Click on “Preferences.”

2.      Click the “Toolbar” icon.

3.      Click the “Clear History Now” button.

There are also computer programs that others can use to spy on your computer use.  To protect yourself from those programs read "Snooping, Spying, and Tracking Programs."