As you probably know, web browsers usually store the pages they display in the web browser cache, so that the next time you want to view the same page, the browser would not have to download it all again, and display the version of the page that was previously stored in the cache. Usually this helps increase the speed of the browsing, however it may cause a problem when you use HostName Commander to change the IP address for some host name: if your web browser has saved a web page from a web site with that host name in its cache, and later you have mapped the host name of that web site to a different IP address, the browser may not detect the change and keep displaying the web page from its cache, even though it must be fetched from a different server now.

To solve this problem, HostName Commander prompts you to clean up the web browser cache for the web sites for which you have modified the host name information. When you save the changes, HostName Commander detects which host names might need to be updated, and displays the following prompt:

HostName Commander automatically places the check marks for the host names which were modified, and leaves the rest of the host name unchecked. You can modify the list of the host names for which you want the web browser cache to be cleaned by checking or clearing the check marks next to the host names in the list displayed.

You can also select one of the options offered to control how the Clean up Browser Cache should be displayed next time:

• Always clean up the cache when saving changes (Recommended)

  If you select this option, then next time you save the changes the Clean up Browser Cache will NOT be displayed, and the browser cache will be cleaned automatically.

• Prompt me each time to clean up the cache when saving changes

  If you select this option, then next time you save the changes the Clean up Browser Cache will be displayed, letting you change the set of host names for which the browser cache should be cleaned. This is the default option, and you may want to keep it default for a few times, to see whether HostName Commander is offering the correct set of host names to clean up the cache for. If you often find that you are not changing the set of host names proposed by HostName Commander, you may want to select the Always clean up the cache when saving changes (Recommended) option instead (see above). If you change your mind later, you can select a different option using the Options dialog box.

• Never clean up the cache when saving changes

  If you select this option, HostName Commander will not display the Clean up Browser Cache prompt and will not clean up t he web browser cache fro you. You may want to select this option if you do not experience problems with the web browser cache.

If you press the Yes button on the Clean up Browser Cache prompt, HostName Commander will remove the web pages form the web browser cache for the host names checked in its list, forcing the web browser to load the fresh copies of the web pages the next time you are visiting the web site in question. Note however, that you may need to restart the web browser to actually force it to load the updated pages; because even if a web page is no longer in the cache, the web browser can still keep a copy of it in its memory!

Note that you can use the Clean up Browser Cache command at any time, without saving the changes to the host name information: simply click on the little down arrow next to the Save Changes button to display a menu, and then choose Clean up cache from the menu.

Note also that only the cache of Internet Explorer is currently can be cleaned up with this command; other web browsers are not supported at this time.