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Select one of the Questions below to see the response.

  1. Which browsers does the NCES website support?
  2. What can I do to increase the speed with which I access your site?
  3. What is a PDF file and what are the advantages of using this format?
  4. What is a Zip file and what are the advantages of using Zip files?
  5. What is "cache" memory?
  6. How do I clear the cache on my browser?
  7. What are cookies and how are they used on the NCES website?
  8. How do I bookmark my favorite pages?
  9. I bookmarked to a page within your site and now it does not work. Why?
  10. Can I link to your site from my site?
  11. How do I make the NCES website my start up page?
  12. I am having problems connecting to one of your pages. When I do, my system locks up. What's going on?
  13. How can I change my screen resolution?
  14. When printing an NCES publication in PDF, all the words run together on paper, but everything looks fine on the screen. Is the error in your document or my printer?
  15. I do not have a printer. Is there any other way to obtain NCES publications?
  16. When I download a PDF file, my browser screen goes blank and I never see the file.
  17. When I open a PDF file in my browser, Adobe Acrobat Reader says the file is damaged.
  18. What if I want to bypass my browser's PDF plug-in when downloading and save directly to my hard drive?
  19. I need some general troubleshooting advice for resolving print problems.
  20. I entered a URL and I got back a message that said "HTTP Error 404 Not Found. The web server cannot find the file or script you asked for. Please check the URL to ensure that the path is correct." What should I do?
  21. I'm fairly certain that the URL I entered is good but I'm not getting the page I expected. What did I do wrong?
  22. What if I'm looking for a Publication/Data Product, but don't know the exact title, author, or NCES number?
  23. What if I'm looking for a Publication/Data Product, and I have the exact title, but no matching titles are found?
  24. What if I'm not really sure what I'm looking for, but I have some ideas?
  25. How come when I do a search I only get 5 years worth of publications?
  26. What if I'm just looking for tips for effective searching?
  27. What is the best place to find tables and figures on education data??
  28. If I am moving how can I find out about schools, colleges and libraries in other areas?
  29. How do I stay at the forefront of what is going on in the work that NCES does?
FAQ Question and Answer

Question:
How do I clear the cache on my browser?

Response:
The caching process, which stores the websites that you access the most on your hard drive, can eat up an enormous amount of hard disk space. Clearing out your cache periodically will allow you to retrieve that space, which can come in handy if you are running low. To clear your cache, please choose directions applicable to one of the browsers listed below:

  • Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0: Click on the "Tools" button and then select Internet Options followed by "General" and then "Delete Files." Next, a pop-up box will ask you if you wish to delete all temporary Internet files. Once you click "OK," you will have successfully cleared your cache.
  • Netscape 7.0 users: Use the "Edit" pull down menu, and click the "Preferences" selection. A menu with several selections will appear in the left pane of the window. Click the plus sign (+) next to the category marked "Advanced," and select the "Cache" option. Then, click both the "Disk Cache" and "Memory Cache" buttons. Be sure to click "OK" when a message asks you whether you want to remove disk/memory cache files. Don't forget to clear both the disk and memory cache before you exit the "Preferences" menu.
  • For Mac Users: With IE 5.0 or higher choose "Edit" then select "Preferences," "Advanced" and then click "Empty Now." In Netscape 7.0 select "Edit" and then choose "Preferences." Then click "Advanced," "Cache," and finally, "Clear Disk Cache Now."

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