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Computer Safety
//Special thank yous to Louis, Jeff, Jack, Josh, Eastside Domestic Violence Program and New Beginnings.
Your computer keeps a record of internet sites you visit. If an abusive partner uses your computer, you may be increasing your danger by visiting sites about domestic violence. If you are worried about your safety and unsure of your ability to delete records of your internet usage, we strongly advise you not to use any computer that is also used by the person abusing you. The safest practice is to use a computer at a public library, at work, or at the home of a friend you trust.
Here are suggestions to try to delete your computer's record of internet sites you have viewed:
Warning: We cannot provide precise instructions for all types of computers and all versions of browsers. Furthermore, even if these suggestions work, an experienced computer user may be able to find other evidence of your usage.
How To Remove Traces From Your Computer
Web Browser History//
Web browsers keep a running history of the Web pages you have visited and keep copies of the graphics on these pages. Also, Windows and Macintosh systems keep a history of the Web pages and documents you have recently accessed. Perform the following steps to get rid of history:
A. Delete your document history as follows:
//Please note: in XP's multi-user mode, this will only clear the cache for the logged-in user. If you use the
computer while logged in as someone else, you will need to repeat these steps.
- Windows XP (Default Mode)
- Right click on the "Start" button and select "Properties".
- Click the "Start Menu" tab.
- Click the "Customize" button.
- Click "Clear List" (this will clear the Start Menu from showing any recently used programs)
- Click the "Advanced" tab.
- Click "Clear List" (this will clear recently used documents)
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- Windows XP (Classic Mode)
- Right click on the "Start" button and select "Properties".
- Click the "Start Menu" tab.
- Click the "Customize" button.
- Click "Clear" (this will clear the Start Menu from showing any recently used programs)
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- Windows (2000 and older)
- Click on the "Start" menu, then select "Settings, Taskbar & Start Menu". This will bring up the Taskbar Properties dialog.
- On the "Start Menu Programs" tab or the "Advanced" tab (depending on your version), and click on the "Clear" button.
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B. Delete your Web browser's history and saved graphics as follows:
- Microsoft Internet Explorer
- Click on the "Tools" menu, then click on "Internet Options". A dialog box will come up.
- Click the "Delete Files" button in the Temporary Internet files area. Click "OK" when the confirmation box comes up.
- Click the "Clear History" button
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- Netscape Navigator
- Click on the "Edit" menu, then click on "Preferences". A dialog box will come up.
- Click the "Clear History" button.
- Click the "Clear Location Bar" button.
- In the Category: panel on the left side of the dialog box, click the little next to Advanced. Click on Cache.
- In the Cache panel on the right, click the "Clear Disk Cache" button. Click "OK" when the confirmation box comes up.
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- On older versions of Netscape Navigator (version 3 and below):
- Click on the "Options" menu, then click on "Network Preferences". A dialog box will come up.
- Click on the "Cache" tab.
- In the Cache panel on the right, click the "Clear Disk Cache" button. Click "OK" when the confirmation box comes up.
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- Opera 6.x for Windows and Unix
- Click on File. Drag down to Preferences. Click on History and Cache.
- Find the button for "Typed in" addresses. Press the "Clear" button next to it.
- Find the button for "Visited" addresses. Press the "Clear" button next to it.
- Find the submenu for "Disk Cache". Click "Empty Now".
- In the "Disk Cache" submenu, check "Empty on exit".
- In the "RAM Cache" submenu, uncheck all RAM cache options. Uncheck "cache rendered images".
- Find the submenu for "Check modified...". For each of the three items -- Documents, Images, Other -- change them to read "Always". Also, check the "Always check redirect" button.
- Finally, click on "OK" to commit all your changes.
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- Opera can be potentially very hazardous because some versions automatically start the browser on the last page you visited, prior to exiting. To fix this:
- Click on File. Drag down to Preferences. Find the "Start and Exit" menu.
- Under "Start", make sure it is NOT set to "continue browsing where I was last time". If this option doesn't appear, you have an old version of Opera where this feature wasn't yet available.
- Under "Exit", make sure "Save windows" is NOT checked.
- Finally, click on "OK" to commit all your changes.
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- AOL
- Click on the "Members" menu, click on "Preferences".
- Click on the "WWW" icon.
- Select "Advanced" and then "Purge Cache".
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- Netscape 6 for Mac:
- Edit...Preferences...Navigator...History
- Click the buttons to "Clear History" and "Clear Location Bar"
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- Netscape 4 for Mac:
- Edit...Preferences...Navigator
- Click the button "Expire Now" to clear the history
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- Internet Explorer 5 for Mac:
- Edit...Preferences...Web Browser...Advanced
- For History, click "Clear History"
- For Cache, click "Empty Now"
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These steps empty the history list completely, which might raise the suspicions of a computer-savvy abuser. You can refill the history list by simply going to some innocuous sites like www.cnn.com and www.yahoo.com after you have followed the above steps.
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E-mail// No e-mail message is confidential! There are many ways your e-mail can be accessed without your consent or knowledge. E-mail messages are sent using many servers located world-wide and their contents can be accessed by someone who really wants to do so. Also, if an abuser can access your e-mail stored locally on your computer, that abuser could get access to your private correspondence or even attempt to impersonate you. Try to choose login names and passwords an abuser cannot guess.
A much safer way is to use a Web-based e-mail service. Many Web sites offer free Web-based e-mail which allows you to access your e-mail from any computer that has Internet access, and no information is stored locally on your computer. Some good Web-based e-mail services are Yahoo Mail, Hotmail, and Excite Mail.
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Editing Documents// Be sure not to store documents that you don't want seen on a computer that your abuser has access to (use services that store your documents online, like ibackup or Hyperoffice instead). If you use a computer to edit confidential documents be sure to:
- Clear Document History on applications like Microsoft Word and Excel. These applications keep a history of the most recent documents opened. You can see them at the bottom of the File menu. The easiest way to clear this history is to open several innocuous documents so that the confidential document names are pushed off the menu. Another way to do this is to click on the "Tools" menu, click on "Options" or "Preferences", click on the "General" tab of the dialog box that comes up, then click the "Clear History" button.
- Delete your document history (see above).
- Empty your Recycle/Trash bin.
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