:::Life Souce Consultants Inc. Computer Tips:::

Many of your actions on any computer, both on the Internet and otherwise, are stored and can be
retrieved with the right software. This software is available from many sources. If you are in danger,
please try to use a computer that someone abusive does not have direct access, or even remote
(hacking) access to.

It might be safer to use a computer in a public library, a community technology center, at a trusted
friend's house, or an Internet cafe.

If you think your activities are being monitored, they probably are. Abusive people are often controlling
and want to know your every move. You don't need to be a computer programmer or have special
skills to monitor someone's computer activities, anyone can do it and there are many methods of
monitoring.

Computers can provide a lot of information about what you look at on the Internet, the email you
send, and other activities. It is not possible to delete or clear all computer "footprints".

If you think you may be monitored on your home computer, you might consider no home Internet
use or "safer" Internet surfing. Example: If you are planning to flee to California, don't look at classified
ads for jobs and apartments, bus tickets, etc for California on a home computer or any computer an
abuser has physical or remote access to. Use a safer computer or research an escape plan.

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.

Cookies

Each time you access web sites, "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 web site 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.

   Deleting cookies in Explorer

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.

   Deleting cookies in Netscape

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 web sites 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 web sites you've visited despite the fact that it says you can't edit.