Window Washer 6.0 Online Manual

Changing Internet Explorer Wash Items

You can change several wash items related to Internet Explorer. Internet Explorer is a browser program that comes with Windows. Browsers let you visit Web sites on the World Wide Web.

To change Internet Explorer wash items:

Start Window Washer, if it is not already open, and display the Window Washer window.
For more information, see Starting Window Washer.
In the icon panel, click Wash Setup.
The Wash Setup panel displays.
Click Edit to the right of Internet Explorer.
Select or deselect the Internet Explorer options you want.

Click to see a description of each option.

Option	Description
Address Bar History	This list of Web sites that you visited recently is stored as part of Internet Explorer's AutoComplete feature. You see this list when you click the arrow on the right side of the Address drop-down list at the top of the Internet Explorer window. This option deletes the list of recently visited Web sites from your computer.
Cookies	These small files store information about your interaction with a Web site. Some cookies may just track which ads the site displayed while you were there to make sure the site does not display the same ads. Other cookies may store preferences that you set, passwords you create for the site, information about the pages you visited, and more. This option deletes all cookies from your computer. You can tell Window Washer to keep some cookies by using the Cookie Keeper. For more information, see Customizing Cookie Washing.
Temporary Internet Files Folder (Cache)	Internet Explorer uses this folder to store copies of Web pages that you have visited. Storing these Web pages makes them open faster the next time you visit the same Web page. This option deletes the copies of the Web pages from your computer.
History (Visited Sites)	This list includes the Web sites that you visited recently. You see this list when you click History on the Internet Explorer toolbar. This option deletes the list of recently visited Web sites from your computer.
AutoComplete Form Data	This data provides a list of information that you entered into forms on any Web sites recently. This information is stored as part of Internet Explorer's AutoComplete feature. You see this data only when you visit a Web site and start entering information, for example your e-mail address or password, and the information automatically displays as you start to type. This option deletes the list of recently entered form data from your computer.
Downloaded Folder Memory	This folder stores the files you last downloaded using Internet Explorer. This option does not delete the folder itself. It only erases Windows' "memory" of where you last downloaded files.
Media Bar (Media Player) History	This list includes the files that you recently opened using the media player that is part of Internet Explorer. The media player plays audio and video files that you access on Web sites. This option deletes the list of recently opened audio and video files from your computer.
Setup Log File	Windows uses these files to log information when you update Internet Explorer. After you install the updates, you no longer need these files.
Index.dat (Wash with Bleach on Windows Startup)	These Windows files store information about recently used files and visited Web sites and grow in size over time. Window Washer washes the index.dat files during a wash, but can only bleach them when you restart your computer. Bleaching the files makes sure that the data cannot be recovered using an undelete or unerase utility. Bleaching works by overwriting the file one or more times with random characters. You control how many times it overwrites the file by setting the Add Bleach to Wash option. For more information, see Adding Bleach.

If you want Window Washer to let you know that Internet Explorer is open when you run a wash, click Options in the icon panel, click the Program Settings tab, then select the Warn Me If My Browser Is Still Open Before Washing option.
Window Washer cannot wash browser-related files if the browser is open when you run a wash. This option lets you know that the browser is open and reminds you to close it, so the wash can run.
Click Apply.