I thought it would be fun to talk about two of my favorite subjects – cash and cookies. Oops, I misspelled cash, I meant to spell it, cache.
But I caught your attention, didn’t I?
Cache and cookies
I want to spend this article making sure you really understand what we're talking about when we use these terms "cache" and "cookies."
Cache
Cache is a storage space or memory that allows for fast access to data. In your computer, RAM memory serves as the operating memory for all of the programs that operate from your operating system to your browser.
Whenever a program (or application) is launched on your computer, the operating system allocates a specific amount of RAM-memory (sometimes referred to as system resources), for the program to operate. This is referred to as the initial cache, as the program continues to run and perform more and more functions. It typically requires additional memory that's cached to the program as well.
When the program in question is your browser, used to surf-the-web, the cache is allocated in a couple of ways – the operating cache and the residual cache allocation.
Your browser stores data from the various sites you visit so that future requests to the same sites can be served up faster. The residual cache is that portion of the allocated cache that's needed to support the stored data and make it available to the browser.
I guess if you wanted to you could think about your browser’s use of cache kind of like your personal finances. You keep some money in your pocket for your immediate needs, like buying a Coke at the Sonic or paying for lunch at the burger joint.
That pretty much corresponds to operating cache. Suddenly, you realize you don’t have enough money in your pocket, so you open up your wallet and find you have $20 stashed away. That stash is residual cash (cache).
Now, if every time you used money from your wallet, you put a few dollars of change from the transaction back in your wallet instead of your pocket, you'd be caching in almost the same way your browser slips images and other data from a website into residual cache.
If you just kept putting all that residual cache (cash) into your wallet, and never took it to the bank and turned it in for bigger bills, then before long you would have a whole heck of a lot of $1.00 bills stuffed in your wallet, maybe so many that you couldn’t get your wallet in your pocket.
Obviously, when it comes to your browser, if your cached data continues to build up, it consumes more of your computer’s resources and reduces available resources for the ‘operational’ aspects of your browser.
That's because your Operating System isn’t going to just keep passing out more cache. It's kind of like when your parents finally decided they were not going to keep giving you money to waste.
Browser cache settings
Now, to get back a little more technical info, when you visit a website with your browser, there's a lot of common stuff associated with each page. Some of it is formatting and navigation and script code that you don’t see except in terms of how it makes the web-page look.
Typically, you move from one web page to another at a particular website. So, it just doesn’t make sense for your browser to download the same stuff over and over again. The first time the stuff is downloaded, it's stuck in cache so that it can be easily and quickly accessed and displayed, rather than being downloaded again.
Just because you end your web session doesn’t mean your browser rids itself of the stored data from cache. Rather, it's stored in your temporary internet files on the computer for use when you access the same web page again.
As you log in to a repeat web page, the browser checks to see if the stuff on the newly logged into page is the same as you previously downloaded. If so, it populates the images you see with the cached data, not the new stuff.
You just think you're looking at something new, when in reality, only small portions may be new – the rest is leftovers.
Cookies
Cookies are files created by websites you’ve visited and your browser’s cache. They are intended to help returning web pages load faster to make it easier for you to browse the web.
A cookie is a short line of text related to the website you visited by supporting client-server communications, session management and tracking. These cookies actually improve the surfing experience 180-degrees from the way that cache does.
The cookies help the website you visit keep track of your browser session.
They do this by storing user preferences and patterns in respect to the website. That way, when you connect again to the same website, or even a search engine, you start looking for something. The website (or search engine) can read the related cookie and say, "Golly, she's looking for something in a size 4."
Well, perhaps not quite that specific, but you get the idea.
Simply put, cookies are little nuggets of information that the sites you visit store on your computer to enable them to remember you and know you better the next time you visit.
Cache and Cookie Computer Compromise
A couple of adverse affects can result from too much cache and cookies. They can consume valuable computer resources. It’s like you acquire so much cash that the bank says you're going to have to put some in another bank. It says it doesn’t have room for all your cache.
Or, you can’t gobble up the cookies as fast as your mom bakes them, so they just pile up in the cookie jar until it overflows on to the counter and the floor.
The second thing that occurs is your computer becomes so reliant upon the stored information that it doesn’t notice the page has changed. I just continues to display the same page without truly refreshing.
I see this a lot when I'm working on the backend of the website we use for our Insightful Accountant E-zine. I will change something, and it if doesn’t change, I hit refresh. And if it still doesn’t change, I hit refresh again. Nothing.
Finally, I logout and log back in – maybe it has changed, maybe not. I may just have to clear my cookies to get them to reload the new page.
Clearing your Cache and Cookies
Browser data settings
"Clear your cache and cookies” is one of the more common help instructions you'll get from troubleshooters, especially if you deal with Customer Support for QuickBooks Online. It’s almost like the first words out of their mouth.
While at times it becomes necessary to clear your cache and cookies, you don't have to do it too frequently if your browser isn’t giving you nightmares.
Obviously, your computer has limited RAM memory resources, and typically the amount of storage that can be used for cache and cookies is defined in either your browser settings or the operating system configuration.
There are any number of abnormal behaviors that you may experience when the cache and cookies approach "overflow" capacity. Sometimes, pages don’t load properly, or they appear broken. You can even see one of those script messages, because there's some unresolved difference in the stored script versus the active script.
Overloaded browser cache can slow down browsing because it's trying to find data within the crowded cached folder.
Many secure websites actually force a dump of cached files and cookies if you fail to logout of the website in a timely manner. This is very common when a website displays "Session Expired" messages.
These steps are designed to protect the security of the website, as well as protect you from fraudulent activity by someone stepping in and taking your place when you stepped away for a moment.
Each of the different browsers have their own way of clearing cache and cookies; but they're all simple processes that typically take just a few minutes while the data is being purged.
We will examine the concept of cache and cookies a little more in depth in respect to QuickBooks Online. We'll also look at the steps for clearing cache and cookies from the three "major" windows-based browsers during my class, "QBO Troubleshooting at "Scaling New Heights" in June.
If you haven’t registered for the conference, you can obtain more information or register here.