Guidescope: Your Browser's Cache

Your Browser's Cache

What is my browser's cache?

Your browser saves a temporary copy of recently downloaded pages and graphics in your computer in a place that is known as the browser's cache. When you revisit a page or graphic, your browser loads it directly from its cache instead of downloading it. This saves time because your computer can read from its cache far faster than it can download another copy from the Web.

How does this affect ad filtering?

The Guidescope service blocks graphical ads by preventing them from being downloaded from the Web. If your browser loads an ad from its cache instead of downloading it, then we are unable to block it. This is most apparent when you have first started using our service or when you block or unblock an ad using the Ad List.

How do I flush my browser's cache after installation?

We recommend that you flush your browser's cache once after first installing our software. Instructions are here.

How does this affect ad blocking with the Ad List?

The effect of your browser's cache is also apparent immediately after you have blocked a new ad using the Ad List. If you reload the page with the ad on it, the ad will sometimes still appear. This happens when your browser displays the ad from its cache instead of downloading it.

If this happens to you, you can usually force your browser to ignore its cache and download everything on the page:

If your browser is Microsoft IE, force a reload by holding down the "control" key on your computer's keyboard (labeled "Ctrl" or "CNTL") and clicking on IE's "Refresh" button.
If your browser is Netscape, force a reload by holding down the "Shift" key on your computer's keyboard and clicking on Netscape's "Reload" button.

We say "usually" because some browsers sometimes refuse to be forced to download and load from their cache anyway. If this happens, try forcing the reload a second time.

Even if you can't force your browser to ignore its cache, your browser will ultimately remove the temporary copy of the ad from its cache and the ad will stop appearing on that page.

How does this affect unblocking?

You might run into the same browser-caching problem if you have turned blocking off in order to download an ad or other graphic that had been blocked. If your browser's cache holds a "blank" graphic in place of the ad you are looking for, then you might have to "Shift-Reload" as described above to force your browser to download it so you can see it. Otherwise the graphic you are trying to unblock might not be downloaded and might not show up in the Ad List for unblocking.