Keeping kids safe -
checking where they've been on the Internet.
Keeping your kids safe on the
Internet is important, here is another safe Internet tip from Clear Traffic.
How to
check if someone is accessing pornography, or generally where they've been on the Internet:
Before
we begin, another important computer term is called a “cookie”. A “cookie” is a
little program that is sent to your computer from a web site you are visiting.
Virtually ALL websites use cookies. A cookie is a little piece of code that is
sent from a website, to your computer and stored in your windows files. They
store database information, custom page settings, or just about anything that
would make a site individual and customizable. An analogy I like to use is that
cookies are very much like a laundry "claim-check" of sorts. You drop something
off, and get a ticket. When you return with the ticket, you get that same
something back. I purge my cookies almost daily because I don’t like anyone to
see where I have been or what I am doing, and at the end of this handout I will
include directions on how to do that. However, you can use this cookie file to
check to see what web sites have been visited.
- Open Windows Explorer
- Scroll down to Folder
Named WINDOWS and click on the “+” button to open it (or double click on it)
- Scroll down to the
folder that says, “Cookies”. Double Click on it to open it. On the right
side of the screen it will list a number of cookies. If you have never purged
your cache, there will be quite a few cookies, if you are like me, there are
never more than 20. Hover over each icon on the right side of the screen and
it will give you the name of the cookie, for example:
default@tripod[1] Type: Text Document Size 82 Bites. So now you all know
that I visited a sit hosted on tripod. If you hover over a few, you will
begin to see a pattern. Most of mine are msn, yahoo, tripod, etc. You will
know if one is out of the ordinary by the name.
- Scroll down to the
History folder. Double click on the folder to open it, and if you save more
than one day on your computer, just choose a folder and double click on it.
All the websites visited in that time frame will be displayed on the right
side of the pane.
- Last, scroll down to the
Temporary Internet Files and double click on it again. This is another place
where cookies are stored on your computer, and you can see who is collecting
information about you, and what websites have been visited.
And
there you have it. If you open these files, and they are empty, that means
that someone else knows how to check these files and is manually emptying them.
Ask why they've done this. Clearing your files more than once a month is overly
tidy and would be suspicious.
Safe and faster.
Now, as
an aside, you can empty these files and it will make your computer run a little faster on
the Internet, and allow you to control who collects data about your surfing
habits.
- Open Windows Explorer
- Scroll down to Folder
Named WINDOWS and click on the “+” button to open it (or double click on it)
- Scroll down to the
folder that says, “Cookies”. Double Click on it to open it. On the right
side of the screen it will list a number of cookies. Hit/Control/A to select
all, and then hit the delete button. If you have never purged your cache
before, this may take quite some time, and you may have to highlight 10 or 20
at a time and delete them that way. One person I know had over 9,000 cookies
on their computer. You will get the message, “Are you sure you want to send
these files or folders to the Recycle Bin and you choose yes. Then you may
get the message, “Cannot delete index, access is denied, the source file may
be in use.” Click okay. What that message is saying is that you can’t delete
the index file in that folder and that’s a good thing, you don’t want to.
- Scroll down to the
History folder. Double click on the folder to open it. I only save one day
at a time on my computer, so I highlight the file that says, “Today” on it and
delete it.
- Last, scroll down to the
Temporary Internet Files and double click on it again. Hit control A to
select all the cookies and then delete. The open the folder Content IE.5.
There is a long list of folders with funky names listed there. Click on it
once to highlight and then click delete. You get this message that says, “The
folder 2Li9QBEZ is a system folder. If you delete it, Windows or another
program may not work correctly. Are you sure you want to delete this folder
and send it to the recycle bin? (They want you to keep this on your computer
so they can see what/where you are doing). Choose yes and continue down the
list.
- Don’t empty your recycle
bin yet, reboot your computer.
- If everything looks and
acts great, then empty your recycle bin. I have been doing this for years and
have never ONCE needed to restore anything from the recycle bin after purging
my cache. They really are useless pieces of code stored on your computer,
enabling website to collect information about your searching habits.
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