Very poor browser cache options control

  • Thread starter Thread starter Wrothchild
  • Start date Start date
W

Wrothchild

This is directed to any Microsoft MVPs out there (especially) and anyone
else who's interested or has knowledge of this, or who has also experienced
and/or been bothered by it. I've had this problem with Internet Explorer for
a very long time and it really bothers me. I'm using version 6 now, but the
problem existed with previous versions. I'm not sure how far back it goes,
or if it always existed in Internet Explorer.
When returning to a previously viewed page, via the Back or Forward
Buttons, the browser cannot be set (using the Temporary Internet Files cache
setting options in the Tools Menu) to always read from the cache rather than
reloading the page from the site. Even when it's set to "Never Check for
Newer Versions of Stored Pages", it will still reload the pages from the
site. I know there are instructions (meta tags) in some pages that instruct
the browser to reload the page from the site, but when the browser is set to
"Never Check for Newer Versions of Stored Pages", it should bypass those
instructions (no matter what) and load only what has been cached, to speed
up browsing. The other settings should do exactly what they say, regardless
of any instructions embedded in the page. When set to "Automatically", it
then (and only then) should follow the embedded instructions. Many web pages
(most it seems) contain content that never changes, but have embedded
instructions telling the browser to reload them from the site, needlessly
slowing the browsing experience. Having to reload pages every time I return
to them, using a dialup connection (the only ISP offering broadband here
wants big bucks to run a cable to my residence, therefore it's not an option
for me) makes browsing the web a real hassle, and there's no need for it to
be that way. To get around it, I've started using a different browser, but
there are advantages in using the browser that's integrated into Windows,
and when I.E. 7 comes out (with tabbed browsing) I'd like to use it, but I
can't unless it can be set to prevent reloading pages from a site. Also,
when returning to a previously viewed page, it seems to me the browser
should be able to discriminate in some way between content that has changed
and that which has not, and only reload content from the site that has
changed in some aspect (when set to automatic). If there is a "fix" for this
problem, I'd certainly like to know about it, but I've done searches on it
before and found nothing. It seems like back when I used version 5.01, it
didn't act this way (although it's been a long time and I can't remember it
clearly) but I remember that 5.5 had this problem. I've experienced this
with Windows 98, Millennium and XP. It would be nice to see this change in
I.E. 7, if it's not too late.

Jody
 
Hi,
Note: I have (in the past) lived with a slow dial-up connection.

I don't know if "never" really means "never" when it comes to checking for
newer versions of pages, but this may help you.

You may be running a very large cache. At some point (maybe about 500 MB) it
may take IE longer to check for stored content than to re-download it. I
would limit the Temporary Internet Files folder to (at most) 75 MB.
(Internet Options> General> Temporary Internet Files> Settings. You might
even delete the Temporary Internet Files *folder* (
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/delcache.htm ) to get a fresh start.

Other tips:
1. A pop-up blocker will prevent your limited bandwidth from being used for
ads. The Google toolbar has a good one.
2. The Image Toggler may help
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;177725
Additional information relevant to IE6 in this message:
http://tinyurl.com/c3lt

Regards,
Don
[MS MVP- IE]
 
Additional tip:
The HOSTS file from http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm
will also help with a slow internet connection by blocking ads.
It will also enhance security by blocking URLs which might lead to trojans,
spyware, etc.

Don
[MS MVP- IE]

"Don Varnau" wrote in message
[snip]
 
My browser cache is set to 50 megs. I use a custom HOSTS file already,
which I edit myself. I also use the popup blocker in I.E. 6 (with Windows
XP). There's no spyware or adware on my PC; I scan with Ad-Aware antispyware
regularly and I have the Microsoft antispyware program beta 1 running at all
times. The problem is that I can't force pages to reload from the cache. I
don't mind that the pages are slow to load initially (and they _are_ slower
to load in I.E. than in my other browser); I expect that with a dialup
connection. What bothers me is that they reload from the site again every
time I return to a page, even though it's been viewed already. It's not
necessary and it takes up extra time. I'm specifically thinking of an online
newspaper that I read every day; when I read an article and return to the
home page to look at another, the home page reloads all over again from the
site (I can see the modem activity in the firewall icon on the Notification
Area; I use the ZoneAlarm firewall) and it's a big page and takes a long
time. There are many other sites where this is a problem also, but that one
is the worst. What good are the cache controls in Internet Explorer if they
can't be used to control the activity of the cache? They don't seem to do
anything at all. Sounds strange to me...

Jody


Don Varnau said:
Additional tip:
The HOSTS file from http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm
will also help with a slow internet connection by blocking ads.
It will also enhance security by blocking URLs which might lead to
trojans,
spyware, etc.

Don
[MS MVP- IE]

"Don Varnau" wrote in message

[snip]
Other tips:
1. A pop-up blocker will prevent your limited bandwidth from being used for
ads. The Google toolbar has a good one.
2. The Image Toggler may help
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;177725
Additional information relevant to IE6 in this message:
http://tinyurl.com/c3lt
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Wrothchild said:
This is directed to any Microsoft MVPs out there (especially) and
anyone else who's interested or has knowledge of this, or who has
also experienced and/or been bothered by it. I've had this problem
with Internet Explorer for a very long time and it really bothers me.
I'm using version 6 now, but the problem existed with previous
versions. I'm not sure how far back it goes, or if it always existed
in Internet Explorer. When returning to a previously viewed page,
via the Back or Forward Buttons, the browser cannot be set (using the
Temporary Internet Files cache setting options in the Tools Menu) to
always read from the cache rather than reloading the page from the
site. Even when it's set to "Never Check for Newer Versions of Stored
Pages", it will still reload the pages from the site. I know there
are instructions (meta tags) in some pages that instruct the browser
to reload the page from the site, but when the browser is set to
"Never Check for Newer Versions of Stored Pages", it should bypass
those instructions (no matter what) and load only what has been
cached, to speed up browsing. The other settings should do exactly
what they say, regardless of any instructions embedded in the page.
When set to "Automatically", it then (and only then) should follow
the embedded instructions. Many web pages (most it seems) contain
content that never changes, but have embedded instructions telling
the browser to reload them from the site, needlessly slowing the
browsing experience. Having to reload pages every time I return to
them, using a dialup connection (the only ISP offering broadband here
wants big bucks to run a cable to my residence, therefore it's not an
option for me) makes browsing the web a real hassle, and there's no
need for it to be that way. To get around it, I've started using a
different browser, but there are advantages in using the browser
that's integrated into Windows, and when I.E. 7 comes out (with
tabbed browsing) I'd like to use it, but I can't unless it can be set
to prevent reloading pages from a site. Also, when returning to a
previously viewed page, it seems to me the browser should be able to
discriminate in some way between content that has changed and that
which has not, and only reload content from the site that has changed
in some aspect (when set to automatic). If there is a "fix" for this
problem, I'd certainly like to know about it, but I've done searches
on it before and found nothing. It seems like back when I used
version 5.01, it didn't act this way (although it's been a long time
and I can't remember it clearly) but I remember that 5.5 had this
problem. I've experienced this with Windows 98, Millennium and XP. It
would be nice to see this change in I.E. 7, if it's not too late.
Jody
Click to expand...

If the page contains instructions to never load from cache, when IE starts
to load from cache it will see those instructions and load from the site.

If the page contains the instruction to never cache then there's nothing in
cache to load.

--
Frank Saunders, MS-MVP OE
Please respond in Newsgroup only. Do not send email
http://www.fjsmjs.com
Protect your PC
http://www.microsoft.com./athome/security/protect/default.aspx
http://defendingyourmachine.blogspot.com/
 
....
When returning to a previously viewed page, via the Back or Forward
Buttons, the browser cannot be set (using the Temporary Internet Files cache
setting options in the Tools Menu) to always read from the cache rather than
reloading the page from the site.
Click to expand...


Do those operations work if you set Work Offline on?
If not something isn't cached so it at least would have to be
redownloaded.

Otherwise make sure you aren't confusing cache-checking with
redownloading. Also make sure that you are using HTTP 1.1 protocol.


Here's a document which may help clarify your understanding of the
caching mechanism.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/e...ddler2.asp?frame=true#ie_introfiddler2_topic3

Note: unfortunately the menu has changed since the document
was written and thus MSDN's Sync Toc feature does not find it.
I.e., notice that a new menu level "Technical Articles and Columns"
has been inserted where the breadcrumb links are broken at the top.


If you have a specific publicly accessible example you would like
to discuss please provide its URL.


HTH

Robert Aldwinckle
---
 
Frank Saunders said:
If the page contains instructions to never load from cache, when IE starts
to load from cache it will see those instructions and load from the site.

If the page contains the instruction to never cache then there's nothing
in cache to load.
Click to expand...

That's fine if the browser cache control is set to *automatically* check
for newer versions of stored pages, but when it's set to *never* check for
newer versions of stored pages, it should do just that, regardless of any
instructions contained in the page. Tell me, why not? Why should the site
have priority over the cache controls? I want to decide how the cache
behaves, base on my needs. When the pages of so many sites call for
bypassing the cache, and they obviously offer content that doesn't change
(ever in most cases), then the reader should have the priority, not the
site. I'd like to see this change.

Jody
 
Hello Wrothchild,

You address an interesting issue regarding the cache policy of IE. I agree
with you that when you select to never search for newer versions of a cached
page, it should never contact the server if the page exists in the cache and
provided that you are not manually refreshing it.

As Frank has already mentioned the problem starts when a page explicitly
specifies to exclude itself from the cache. In this case I recommend to keep
the relevant pages open in a seperate window (or tab in IE7) to avoid
reloading the original page again and again. Note: you can quickly open a
link in a new window by holding down the shift key while clicking on it.

Another approach would be to install a personal proxy server on your windows
machine and to configure it to always cache pages regardless of their cache
policy.

The Mozilla Firefox team is also working on a solution for the
backward-forward cache problem by storing the last few rendered pages in
memory. This solution has the danger when not implemented carefully to boost
memory consumption dramatically.

Needless to say that when having the luck to use a broadband internet
connection the described cache problem becomes almost invisible.

Regards

Viktor
 
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