Caching in IE

You can configure basic caching parameters in Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE). To set cache parameters, click Tools, Internet Options on the IE toolbar. In the General tab’s Temporary Internet files section, click Settings. Possible cache settings in IE 5.0 and later include Every visit to the page, Every time you start Internet Explorer, Automatically, and Never—the most dangerous setting.

Every visit to the page. When you return to a previously viewed page, IE determines whether content has changed since you last viewed the page. If the page has changed, IE displays the new page and stores it in the Temporary Internet Files folder. IE checks for changes once per session.

Every time you start Internet Explorer. When you return to a previously viewed page, IE determines whether content has changed since you last viewed the page. However, on subsequent visits to the same page, IE won’t check for new content until you restart the browser. To reread content from the server, you must manually refresh the page.

Automatically. When you return to a previously viewed page, IE won’t determine whether content has changed since you last viewed the page. Instead, IE checks for new content only when you return to a page that you viewed in an earlier session or on a previous day. Over time, if IE determines that images on the page are changing infrequently, IE will start checking for newer images and content less frequently. Again, to guarantee that you’re viewing the most up-to-date content, you must manually refresh the page

Never. When you return to previously viewed pages, IE never determines whether content has changed since you last viewed those pages. The Never option offers the fastest browsing performance but causes the most problems by ensuring that you don’t see page updates. To force the browser to display up-to-date content, you must click Refresh or delete all files from IE’s Temporary Internet files folder.