Family Tree Maker's Genealogy Site: Troubleshooting -- FTM for Windows: What Is the Cache?

What Is the Cache?

When you surf the Internet, your Web browser saves the contents of Web sites to a folder on your hard drive called the cache. When you visit these same sites again, your Web browser loads the pages from your local hard drive rather than the remote site. Since your hard drive is a lot faster than your modem, the cache can help speed up your Web browsing sessions and minimize the time spent waiting online.

However, the cache can be problematic in some situations. Sometimes your browser will load an older version of the page from the cache when you need the most up-to-date page to verify a change in your home page or to get access to a members-only section of our Web site. If you're having problems online, emptying the cache is always a good idea to ensure that you're working with the most up-to-date versions of all Web pages.

We've posted instructions for emptying the cache in Netscape and Internet Explorer.

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