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Warning
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Anyone in an abusive relationship should not use their home computer -- or
any computer that an abuser has physical access to -- for research. Use a
computer in a public location, such as a library, to find information on
shelters or to communicate with friends. Please follow the instructions
below to erase your browser history. If your abuser has placed hidden
spyware on your computer, they can track your web activity even if you
erase your history.Safe Surfing
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If you bookmark this or any other site about domestic violence, your
abuser can find out that you have been getting information on domestic
violence. If you can, clear all cache/history files from your web browser.
You may want to access this site from somewhere other than home. See
instructions below for eliminating traces to browsing the internet for
domestic violence web pages.
Instructions for Internet Explorer
To delete temporary internet files,
cookies and
pages listed in your History:
- On the menu at the top of the browser window, click on Tools>Internet
Options...
- In the dialog window that opens, click on the "General" tab.
- In the section labeled "Temporary Internet Files", if you wish to
delete all the files and cookies, click on the "Delete Files..."
button. A confirmation dialog will open asking if you want to delete all
files in your temporary internet folder. Click "OK".
- If you wish to selectively delete files and cookies, click on the
"Settings..." button. A dialog window will open. Click on the "View
Files..." button. A window will open with a list of all your temporary
internet files and cookies. You can highlight the files you wish to
delete and hit the delete key or click Edit>Delete.
- To empty the History folder, click on the "Clear History"
button and then the "OK" button.
Instructions for Netscape
To delete pages listed in your History:
- Click on Communicator>Tools>History on the menu
bar at the top of your browser window.
- When the History window opens, highlight the addresses you want to
delete and hit the delete key on your keyboard or click on Edit>Delete
on the menu bar.
- If you wish to clear the History file, click on Edit>Select
All then Edit>Delete.
To empty your cache:
- Click on Edit>Preferences on the menu bar at the top
of your browser window.
- When the Preferences window opens, click on the "+" sign in front of
"Advanced" in the frame on the left then click on "Cache" to open the
cache dialog.
- In the Cache dialog window, click on the "Clear Memory Cache
and the "Clear Disk Cache buttons and click on the "OK" button to
close the window.
There's no simple mechanism for deleting
Cookies in
Netscape. At the same time though, it's not very easy to locate the
cookies that are placed on your computer when using Netscape. If you want
to delete the cookies in Netscape, you have to open "Windows Explorer" and
browse to the "Netscape" folder which is usually in your "Program" folder
on your "C" drive. In the "Netscape" folder is a folder called "Users".
Open "Users" and then the "default" folder contained within. In the
"default" folder there's a file called "cookies.txt". You can delete that
file without harming your computer but all your cookies will be removed
and some websites that you visit frequently may not recognize you when you
return. If you double click the file name, it will open in Notepad and you
can edit out the cookies related to domestic violence websites you've
visited despite the fact that it says you can't edit the file.
Cookies
Each time you access websites, "cookies" can be created.
Cookies are cryptic bookmarks that a Web site can place on your computer
to acknowledge your prior visit, authenticate your access or let you
continue on through a site from where you last left off. They are really
no big deal and will not do anything to damage your computer, however,
they can leave a trail of evidence of where you have been on the web. If
you visit a website on domestic violence and a cookie is created as a
result of that visit, your abuser can trace your trail and discover where
you've been. |
Quick Exit
We provide the QUICK EXIT
button on every page in the event that you may be discovered by your
abuser while viewing this website. The button takes you straight to
Google.
We think that arouses less suspicion than simply closing your browser
window or shutting off your computer and is less likely to incite an
abuser to violence.
Of course, nothing is foolproof, and an abuser who is familiar with
computers would be able to trace your browsing back to this website. Our
hope is that if there is no immediate evidence on your monitor screen,
there will be no cause for suspicion on the abuser's part and no reason to
investigate further.
Please remember to follow the instructions on the left and erase any
evidence of your visit as soon as it's safe to do so.
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