FreewareVista Great Freeware
Freeware and free trials, tips and resources

Cleaning Cookies and Other Common Items

If you're new to cleaning up such items as cookies here's a quick way to get started. Keep in mind that these steps do not replace all that quality cleanup software can do. However, if you've had your PC for some time and haven't done any cleanup, and now it's bogging down, this is a first step that can often help quite a bit. Procedural steps verified as of 18 March 2007 on Internet Explorer 7 and Mozilla Firefox 2

For  Internet Explorer (v.7.0) : Microsoft
1)  Open Internet Explorer
2)  At the top of the screen on the toolbar, click on 'Tools', a drop down menu will appear.
3)  Click on 'Internet Options'
4)  Select the 'General' tab
5)  Under 'Browsing History' click 'Delete'
6)  In the Delete Browsing History window select items to delete or select 'Delete all'

For Internet Explorer (v.6.0) : Microsoft
1)  Open Internet Explorer
2)  At the top of the screen on the toolbar, click on 'Tools', a drop down menu will appear.
3)  Click on 'Internet Options'
4)  Select the 'General'  tab
5)  Click on  'Delete Cookies', 'OK'
6)  Click 'Delete Files'
7)  Place a check to delete off-line content if you want to delete web page content that you have made available offline, click  'OK'
8)  Click 'Clear History', 'Yes'
9)  Click 'OK' to close out the screen

For Mozilla Firefox (v.2.0.0.2) :
1)  Open Firefox
2)  At the top of the screen on the toolbar, click on 'Tools', a drop down menu will appear.
3)  Click on 'Options'
4)  Click on 'Privacy'
5)  Click on 'Settings' and select the items that should be cleared, careful about 'Passwords', obviously you may not wish to delete your passwords
6)  Click 'OK' to close the window, then click on 'Clear Now' to complete the cleaning process
7)  Once your items to delete are selected as in step 5, you may simply click on Tools' -> 'Clear Private Data' -> 'Clear Private Data Now'
8)  You can also press control / shift / delete simultaneously on your keyboard, then click on 'Clear Private Data Now'

For Mozilla Firefox (v.1.0.1) :
1)  Open Firefox
2)  At the top of the screen on the toolbar, click on 'Tools', a drop down menu will appear.
3)  Click on 'Options'
4)  Click on 'Privacy'
5)  Click to clear each item you wish to delete, careful about 'Passwords', obviously you may not wish to delete your passwords
6)  Click on 'OK' to close out the screen

For Mozilla (v.1.7.7) : Mozilla
1)   Open Mozilla
2)   At the top of the screen on the toolbar, click on 'Edit', a drop down menu will appear.
3)   Click on 'Preferences'
4)   Click to open up the menu items under  'Navigator'
5)   Click to highlight 'History', click 'Clear History'
6)   Click to open up the menu items under 'Advanced'
7)   Click to highlight 'Cache', click 'Clear Cache'
8)   Click to open up the menu items under  'Privacy & Security'
9)   Click to highlight  'Cookies',  click  'Cookie Manager',
10) A pop-up window will appear,  select the tab  'Stored Cookies'  
11) Click  'Remove All Cookies', click  'OK',  click  'Close',  click  'OK'

For Netscape Navigator (v.7.02) :
1)   Open Navigator
2)   At the top of the screen on the toolbar, click on  'Edit', a drop down menu will appear
3)   Click on  'Preferences'
4)   Click to open up the menu items under  'Navigator'
5)   Click to highlight  'History',  click  'Clear History'
6)   Click to open up the menu items under  'Advanced'
7)   Click on  'Cache'
8)   Click on  'Clear Memory Cache'
9)   Click on  'Clear Disk Cache'
10) Click to open up the menu items under  'Privacy & Security'
11) Click to highlight  'Cookies',  click  'Manage Stored Cookies'
12) A pop-up window will appear, select the tab  'Stored Cookies'
13) Click  'Remove All Cookies', click  'OK',  click  'OK'