Erase Browser Activity
Browsing the Internet leaves tracks for anyone to follow, showing exactly what websites you’ve visited and even images you’ve looked at. You’ll notice the obviously discovered tracks such as stored URLs in your address bar. For example, if you begin typing a URL into the address bar, the address bar will auto-fill matching entries.
You also are likely aware of cookies and how they can reveal your Internet tracks. You may even already be taking measures to clear your Internet history. But merely deleting temporary Internet files and cookies isn’t nearly enough to protect your privacy. Hidden system files exist on your PC that maintains a log of all websites you’ve ever visited. Computer forensics experts and law enforcement agencies are well aware of how to access these logs and see your entire web history in a matter of minutes.
Even if you carefully cover your tracks, an employer or anyone else with a compelling interest can uncover them. For example, if you don’t want your employer to know you’ve been visiting job posting boards, you may have deleted your browser’s history. But the IT staff can easily look at the hidden file and know about your ongoing job search.
If you want to erase all traces of browser activity generated by Internet Explorer, Firefox, Netscape, AOL, and Opera you will need to go one step further than merely clearing out the cache. That’s because the hidden system files, usually the index.dat files, are hard to find and even if you do find them, hard to delete. When you delete a file in Windows, it’s not really gone for good. Only the reference to that file is gone. It is still sitting on your hard drive, waiting for someone with the right data recovery tools to come along and find it.
Microsoft says the new version of Internet Explorer will clear the index.dat file. We’ll show you how to clear Internet Explorer 7’s history:
- In Internet Explorer 7, go to Tools, Internet Options
- The General Tab contains Browsing History
- Choose Delete, a new screen appears listing all items available for clearing
- Choose to delete them all or delete them individually
Other popular browsers have similar options. However none of these options are an automatic solution by any means. You still need to take action on a regular basis to protect your privacy. Wouldn’t you prefer an automatic solution?
To thoroughly erase all traces of browser activity generated by Internet Explorer, Firefox, Netscape, AOL, and Opera you need a tool that will automate these tasks and keep your PC protected on a regular, automatic schedule. Privacy protection software is the key.
We’ve reviewed numerous software utilities that are up to the task. View our list of recommendations and find the solution to clearing your browser’s history. You’ll find powerful tools that will automate clearing the cache and permanently delete these tracks for good with data recovery an impossible option. You’ll even find free downloads to assist you in your decision!
