If you want to track where someone has been on the Net, there are several ways to do so.
When you surf the Internet, your Web browser (Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator) collects information about the places you visit, and stores it on your computer. This information is easy to find if you know where to look. However, it's also easy to delete—so you should be aware that many Web-savvy kids do it regularly.
History files
Browsers usually keep history files of recently visited sites. Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) users can simply click the History button on the toolbar to view the sites your browser has been to recently. If your IE browser doesn't have a History button, go to Help and search the Index for "History."
Users of Netscape can click on Communicator on their toolbar, select Tools, and then History. This will show a list of the Web sites visited, along with dates and times. Another option is to press the Ctrl (control) and H keys both together—that will also bring up the history listings.
Once you have the history list, both browsers allow you to just double-click on the site name to check it out.
Cache files
Browsers also make temporary copies of Web pages, known as cache files, and store them on your computer. This helps the browser to load recently viewed pages much more quickly than if it had to download them all over again every time you visit a site.
Depending on which version you use, Microsoft Internet Explorer allows users to click on either Tools or View. Next, select Internet Options and click on General and then Settings. Finally, click on View Files to see a list of all the cached Web pages on your computer. You can double-click on any file name to view it.
If you are using an older version of Netscape (anything before Netscape 6), simply type the words about:global in the URL box, to get a list of recently cached files.
To locate cache files using Netscape 6 or newer versions, search your hard drive using the following path: C:\Program Files\Netscape\Users\ your name \Cache. You can double click on any file to view it.
Web files, videos or images stored on your computer
To find Web pages or images that someone has purposely saved on your computer (as opposed to cache files, which are automatically saved), you can use your Search for Files tool in Windows or Macintosh.
In Windows, type the following file extensions in the Search box: *.htm *.html (remember to leave a space between the two terms). To search for images, type in: *.gif *.jpg *.jpeg *.bmp. To search for video files, type in *.avi *.mpeg *.mpg *.asf (again, leave a space). Macintosh users can do the same, but they must leave out the * before the file extension.
Your Search function will return a list of all Internet Web pages, images or videos stored on your computer. Just double-click on the file name or icon to view the file.
Cookies
A cookie is a file that a Web site can park on your browser when you visit, and that records your activities on that site. The idea is that when you go back, the site can present you with customized information. These cookie files stay on your computer's hard drive so you can check them out to see what sites the browser has visited. Use the Search tool (described above) to look for files named cookies.txt. Click on the search results to see which Web sites have placed cookies on your computer.
