An abuser can easily trace the Web sites you have visited, e-mail you have sent, and documents you have written. As a result the safest place to work on the computer is at work, community college, or community library. If you have used your home computer or you must use it, the following are a few things you can do to prevent intrusion:

E-mail: Programs such as Outlook Express, Netscape Mail and Eudora can be accessed by an abuse if they have access to your computer. Therefore it is recommended to use a Web-based e-mail service, such as Yahoo Mail or Hotmail, which no information is stored on your computer, as long as you completely sign out of your e-mail.

File Storage: It is recommended to store your files on the internet, so you can access them from any computer. Companies to do this include Hyperoffice or ibackup.

Editing Documents: If you use your computer to edit confidential documents, be sure to clear document history on programs such as Microsoft Work, Excel, etc..

1. Click on Tools menu
2. Click on Options or Preferences
3. Click on General tab, then click Clear History
4. Then Empty your Recycle bin and clear Web Browser History as explained below.

Web Browser History: While your browser keeps a history of the Web pages you visit, it is important delete your document history as below:

• Delete all Windows document history:
  1. Click on Start menu
  2. Select Settings
  3. Select Taskbar Properties dialog
  4. Click on Advanced
  5. Click on Clear button
• Delete all Microsoft Internet Explorer saved history:
  1. Click on Tools menu
  2. Click on Internet Options
  3. Click on Delete Files in the Temporary Internet Files area
  4. Click OK
  5. Click on Clear History
• Delete all Mozilla Firefox history:
  1. Click on Tools menu
  2. Click on Clear Private Data
  3. Check all the options
  4. Click Clear Private Data Now
• Delete all AOL history:
  1. Click on Members menu
  2. Click on WWW icon
  3. Select Advanced, then select Purge Cache

After you have cleared the history of your computer can make your computer look suspicious, so it is good to refill the history with random sites such as www.yahoo.com, www.cnn.com, etc..

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