AVOIDING PROBLEMS BEFORE THEY START

Here are three things that everyone should do periodically to ensure that your computer works well when using StockCharts.com. Every day we get messages from lots of people that are having problems with their web browser and usually one of these steps will fix the problem. If you follow these tips at least once a week, you'll have a better browsing experience on StockCharts.com (and most other websites too!).

• CLEAR YOUR BROWSER'S TEMPORARY FILE CACHE PERIODICALLY - Your browser stores copies of all the web pages you visit on your hard disk in something called the "Temporary File Cache." In theory, by storing stuff in the cache, your browser can reduce the time it takes old pages to load. Normally, your browser manages all of things it stores in the cache automatically but sometimes it gets confused. This can cause lots of problems, especially with complex pages like our Charting Workbench. Confused caches can also eat lots of hard drive space. By clearing out your browser's temporary file cache at least once a week, you can keep your browser working efficiently and prevent website problems before they appear. The instructions for clearing your cache can be found here. We've set Firefox to clear our caches every time we shut it down. ( BTW, Be careful to NOT erase your Cookies when clearing your cache.)

• REBOOT YOUR COMPUTER DAILY - Computers, especially older ones, need to be restarted from time to time in order to keep running efficiently. After several hard days of browsing the net, things like plug-ins and hung programs can start to build up - especially in older versions of Windows. We've heard stories of people leaving their computers on for months at a time, seemingly without problems, until... By rebooting your computer every day you'll ensure that it is running efficiently and stuck programs aren't waiting to ambush you later. We reboot our computers every day.

• MAKE SURE YOU HAVE FREE SPACE ON YOUR DISK - Web browsers (and many other computer programs) assume that you have lots of free space on your hard disk. If they encounter a computer with a full hard drive, lots of bad things can happen. They may crash. They may corrupt the temporary file cache. They may run really slowly. They may hang. They may display lots of red X's on the pages you are looking at. They may refuse to run Java applets. Etc. etc. etc. Always make sure you have several 100 Megabytes of free storage on your hard disk before starting a big browsing session. It will save you a ton of grief.