How do I flush the browser's cache memory and what will I lose?

Answer 1

The browser's cache (pronounced "cash") is a space in your computer's hard drive and in RAM memory where your browser saves copies of previously visited Web pages. Your browser uses the cache like a short-term memory. Instead of downloading an image from a recently viewed website, it will load the image from your cache folder, thereby making the browsing process a little quicker.

You can clear your cache (that is, delete all the files in your cache / computer memory) when they begin to occupy too much hard drive space, or when the files in the memory / cache get out of date and no longer correspond to the files on the Web server. (If you are not viewing a current version of the web page)

Just find what browser you are using on the list. Also see DNS Cache after this list....

Clearing Cache on Microsoft® Internet Explorer 6.0

1. Click Start and select Settings, then Control Panel.
2. Double-click internet Options to open Internet Properties.
3. Click Delete Files.
4. Click OK on the Delete Files dialog box.
5. Click OK.

Clearing Cache on Microsoft® Internet Explorer 7.0

1. Click Start and select Settings, then Control Panel.
2. Double-click Internet Options.
3. Click the General tab.
4. Click Delete under the Browsing History section.
5. Click Delete Files in the Delete Browsing History dialog box.
6. Click Close.
7. Click OK.
8. Close and reopen your browser.

Clearing Cache on Microsoft® Internet Explorer 8.0

1. Click Start and select Settings, then Control Panel.
2. Double-click Internet Options.
3. Click the General tab.
4. Click Delete under the Browsing History section.
5. Uncheck every check box except for Temporary Internet Files.
6. Click Delete Files in the Delete Browsing History dialog box.
7. Click Cancel.
8. Click OK.
9. Close and reopen your browser.

Clearing Cache on Firefox 1.0

1. Click Tools and select Options.
2. Click the Privacy Icon.
3. Click Clear next to the Cache section.
4. Click Ok.
5. Close and reopen your browser.

Clearing Cache on Firefox 1.5

1. Click Tools and select Options.
2. Click the Privacy icon.
3. Click the Cache tab and click Clear Cache Now.
4. Click Ok.
5. Close and reopen your browser.

Clearing Cache on Firefox 2.0

1. Click Tools and select Options.
2. Click the Advanced icon and click the Network tab.
3. Click Clear Now under the Cache section.
4. Click Ok.
5. Close and reopen your browser.

Clearing Cache on Firefox 3.0

1. Click Tools and select Options.
2. Click the Privacy icon on the Options menu bar.
3. Scroll down to the Private Data section.
4. Click the Settings button to open the Clear Private Data window.
5. Verify that the Cookies and Save Passwords boxes are not checked.
6. Click OK to close the Clear Private Data window.
7. Click Clear Private Data Now.
8. Click OK to close the Options window.
9. Close and reopen your browser.

Clearing Cache on Netscape® Navigator 9.X

1. Click Tools and select Options.
2. Click the Privacy.
3. Click Clear Now under the Private Data section.
4. Check the box Cache and Clear Private Data Now.
5. Click OK.
6. Close and reopen your browser.

Safari 3.0

1. Click Edit and select Empty Cache.
2. Click Empty.
3. Close and reopen your browser.

AOL 7.0

1. Close your browser.
2. Click Start, select Settings and Control Panel.
3. Double-click Internet Options.
4. Click Delete Files.
5. Click OK on the Delete Files dialog box.
6. Click OK.

AOL 8.0

1. Close your browser.
2. Click Start, select Settings and Control Panel.
3. Double-click Internet Options.
4. Click Delete Files.
5. Click OK on the Delete Files dialog box.
6. Click OK.

AOL 9.0

1. Close your browser.
2. Click Start, select Settings and Control Panel.
3. Double-click Internet Options.
4. Click Delete Files.
5. Click OK on the Delete Files dialog box.
6. Click OK.

Safari 1.x for Macintosh

1. Click the Safari menu and selectEmpty Cache.
2. Click Empty on the Are you sure message box.
3. Close and reopen your browser.

Safari 2.0 for Macintosh

1. Click the Safari menu and select Empty Cache.
2. Click Empty on the Are you sure message box.
3. Close and reopen your browser.

Safari 3.0 for Macintosh

1. Click the Safari menu and select Empty Cache.
2. Click Empty on the Are you sure message box.
3. Close and reopen your browser.

Firefox 1.5 for Macintosh

1. Click the Firefox menu and select Preferences.
2. Click the Privacy icon and click the Cache tab.
3. Click Clear Cache Now.
4. Click the X in the top left corner to close the Privacy window.
5. Close and reopen your browser.

Firefox 2.0 for Macintosh

1. Click the Firefox menu and select Preferences.
2. Click the Advances icon and click the Network tab.
3. Click Clear Now under the Cache section.
4. Click the X in the top left corner to close the Advanced window.
5. Close and reopen your browser.

BlackBerry Handheld

Clearing the content caches clears both the rendered pages and server data:

• Highlight the Browser icon and click the trackwheel.
• Click the trackwheel again to display the Browser Options menu.
• Scroll down to Options and click the trackwheel to open the Browser Options screen.
• Scroll down to General Properties and click the trackwheel to open the General Properties screen.
• Click the trackwheel to open the Cache menu.
• Scroll down to Clear Content Caches and click the trackwheel to clear the cache and return to the General Properties screen.
• Press the Escape button to page back to the main menu.

Google Chrome

1. Click the Tools menu. (the wrench in the upper-right corner)
2. Click Clear browsing data
3. Check the boxes for the types of information you wish to delete.
4. Clear browsing history
5. Clear download history
6. Empty the cache
7. Delete cookies
8. Clear saved passwords

   You can also choose the period of time you wish to delete cached information using the Clear data from this period dropdown menu.

9. Click Clear Browsing Data when ready.

If you want to flush the DNS Cache well then you will just follow these steps. (Since i do not know what system you are operating i will list all.) (and you don't lose anything except your old name resolution)

Flush dns to get a new name resolution. Also flush dns cache when you can't access a newly registered domain name. You can simply flush your dns cache anytime to get new entry. So, Flush your dns cache now.

To flush DNS cache in Microsoft Windows (Win XP, Win ME, Win 2000):-- Start -> Run -> type cmd

- in command prompt, type ipconfig /flushdns

- Done! You Window DNS cache has just been flush.

To flush the DNS cache in Linux, restart the nscd daemon:-

- To restart the nscd daemon, type etc/RC.d/init.d restart in your terminal

- Once you run the command your Linux DNS cache will flush.

To flush the DNS cache in Mac OS X Leopard:-- type lookupd -flushcache in your terminal to flush the DNS resolver cache.

ex: bash-2.05a$ lookupd -flushcache

- Once you run the command your DNS cache (in Mac OS X) will flush.

To flush the DNS cache in Mac OS X:-- type dscacheutil -flushcache in your terminal to flush the DNS resolver cache.

ex: bash-2.05a$ dscacheutil -flushcache

- Once you run the command your DNS cache (in Mac OS X Leopard) will flush.