subject: Browser Cache: A Bane Or Boon [print this page] Browser Cache: A Bane Or Boon Browser Cache: A Bane Or Boon
Whatever you search for something on the net you want to get access to the site as soon as possible. The first time you catch hold of the site it may take a long time to open it and then download it. Consequent search of the same file will make it easy to search as the file that has already been downloaded once will be stored in the memory disk of the system. This storage of the file or site is called browser cache. Because of this browser cache the search becomes fast and the access to the file is easily done.
If your OS is Microsoft Windows the browser cache is held in a file called the temporary internet files. All the contents of files or sites that are visited on the net will be recorded in this file. Next time when you visit the same site again it will load more quickly. This helps easy access to the site no doubt your time too is saved.
Thus having a browser cache is a boon isn't it? The data thus stored will pertain to the one that was available at the time of the last visit. If further changes are made to the site later and you access it after they have been done, you need to download only the changed part the rest will be got from the memory of the hard disk of the computer you are using.
This is not always a boon. The name temporary internet files may lead you to believe that the files are stored in the memory for a short period but it is not so. The files do not get automatically deleted after a period of time. They make this browser cache their permanent abode until they are manually erased from the memory. Hence if you often use the net and visit several sites may be some for the last time you may not need to visit it again. Yet this is stored in the memory of the computer used. This will be clutter and of no use to you but it will occupy enough space on the memory disk leaving no space for the useful data.
Also a lot of clutter on the disk will make the computing system slow to operate. This works against the use of browser cache. This is a bane for us. So do we delete this from the computer altogether? No. You can find a middle path. You can always erase the files from the browser cache say once a week of all the files and empty it. Thus you will have a lot of memory restored and also the benefit of having the browser cache.
