What is the difference between temporary internet files and offline web pages?

Question

And, as I've got 80% plus disk size free on my laptop - do I need to clean these off anyway yet?

Answer 1

Because the Internet use to be "slloooowww" when people used dial up, browsers are designed so that they make a copy on your hard drive of every web page you visit. Then if you return to that page during the browsing session, your computer will load that copy rather then re-downloading the page. It is faster. Your hard drive allows a small amount of space for these files, and when it gets full, it deletes the oldest ones to make room for the new ones.

Offline web pages are exactly the same, except they are stored elsewhere, and are not deleted until you delete them. It is assumed that you want to keep those pages, so they are not removed when they get old like the temporary ones.

Because your computer will look at the temp files before it re-downloads a page, it is possible that if the page is updated, and you still have an old version in your temp files, that your computer will display the old page instead of the new one. So even if you do not need the hard drive space, it is recommended that you clear those files once a week or so. Reduces programs that they can cause with web pages. Personally, I have my browser set to clear those files every time I shut it down. Prevents a lot of problems.