[WEB4LIB] Clearing history in IE

[Jim Gordon]

Here's a suggestion about how to clear the history file of the browsers. You
may be able to have a script launch the browser rather than launching IE
itself. The script can delete the history file before opening the browser.

This is an example Macintosh AppleScript that could be disguised as the
browser icon:

tell application "Finder"
 activate
 select file "History.html" of folder "Explorer" of folder "Preferences" of
folder "System Folder" of startup disk
 delete selection
 empty trash
 select file "Internet Explorer" of folder "Internet Explorer 5 Folder" of
folder "Internet Explorer 5" of startup disk
 open selection
end tell

Similarly, if you have a Microsoft application that supports the Visual
Basic editor you can write a script to trash the history file, then open the
browser.

--
James Gordon
Lead Programmer/Analyst
University Libraries
University at Buffalo
434a Capen Hall
Buffalo, NY 14260-1625
716-645-5947   Fax: 716-645-3844


----------
>From: "Stephanie Brooks" <sbrooks at coosnet.com>
>To: Multiple recipients of list <web4lib at webjunction.org>
>Subject: [WEB4LIB] Clearing history in IE
>Date: Tue, Jul 11, 2000, 4:37 PM
>

> Hello --
>
> I'm sure those of you using Internet Explorer are aware that setting your
> history folder to keep 0 days in the history folder does not prevent IE from
> saving web sites from the current day in the history folder.  (the web sites
> are not removed until the following day.)  We lock patrons out of Internet
> options and Windows Explorer, but they can still see previous web sites
> visited in the drop-down box on the address bar.  From what I can tell, this
> is a known issue for Microsoft and they have not yet implemented a fix.  The
> only work-around they suggest on their support web site is to manually clear
> the history.
>
> So we are wondering if anyone knows of a work-around to ensure the history
> is completely cleared between patrons using the Internet, without having to
> manually clear the history? We are using Windows 98/IE 5.0 on our public
> Internet terminals.
>
> Thanks very much in advance to anyone who is able to provide assistance!
> Stephanie Brooks
> Librarian
> Coos Bay Public Library
> 525 W. Anderson St.
> Coos Bay, OR 97420
> (541) 269-1101, ex. 239
> sbrooks at coosnet.com
>
>