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Remove History: Clean Up, Speed Up, and Protect Your Privacy!

Do you faithfully remove history from your computer? Most people aren't aware of just how important removing internet and computer usage history is. Did you know, for instance, that temporary Internet files can take up as much as 10% of your hard disk space? With hard drives averaging at sizes of ten to forty gigabytes, that's an awful lot of wasted space! Even worse, these temporary Internet files can be viewed by anyone who wants a peek at where you've been shopping, or what web sites you've been looking at.

nformation from every web site that you visit is stored in several areas on your computer: hidden folders, temporary files, cookies, your system registry, and the index.dat file. Browsers do provide a little bit of protection from snoops by allowing some methods of remove history, but these techniques fail to remove history files that are slowing you down. Microsoft's recommended way to remove history is fairly simple.

First, open Internet Explorer. On the TOOLS menu, click Internet Options . Click the General tab, and then select History . Under History , simply select Clear History . This simple process is one way to remove history of some of your temporary files, some cache files, and some cookies. It may also cause your browser to run a bit faster for a brief period of time. The downside is that this type of remove history doesn't do anything about files stored in hidden folders, your system registry, or your index.dat file. The files that failed to get deleted are still taking up precious space, and are still accessible to anyone who wants to get to them.

"Why," you might ask, "should I be so concerned with privacy?" If you have no problem being tracked by various corporations, or with the ever-increasing spam most Internet users get every day, or with your personal information being used to direct advertising at you, then you probably don't have much of a privacy concern. Companies across the Internet use cookies in an attempt to catalog sites that you visit.

What are cookies? Cookies are simply bits of information that a web page stores on your local computer. Initially designed to let web sites pass information between pages and to store information (such as login names) for returning visitors, cookies have become exploited. When you remove history, these companies cannot track you any longer.

"Why would a company track me?" you might ask. They do this in order to create a personal profile on you, and to provide their clients with your buying patterns ? thus increasing the junk in your mailbox. Cookies can also be used to tie a user to his or her personal information ? such as a phone number or address. It's relatively easy to remove history such as cookies, but the process is rather irritating. There is an option in your browser that forces companies to "ask if you want to accept cookies". The problem with this is that every time you hit a new site, you have to click "no", sometimes more than once. Additionally, some sites won't load correctly if you don't accept cookies ? landing you once again with cookies in storage.

The best way to remove history is to use software specifically designed to target all of the areas where files are hidden. Software such as Privacy Guardian effectively and securely deletes files stored in your browser, and in other areas of your computer ? even hidden files. By using this software, you not only safely remove history and protect your privacy, you'll actually speed up your computer, and free up valuable hard drive space.

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