The cache is a folder on your hard drive that contains copies of web pages and their images so that they may be loaded from your hard drive rather than being downloaded from the Internet every single time you return to a page that you had previously viewed. Browsers will typically save the data and images from the web pages that you have most recently vistited.

Netscape Navigator and Netscape Communicator will refer to this folder as 'Cache' while Internet Explorer uses the name 'Temporary Internet Files'.

 

A regular maintenance routine of your computer should include the clearing of the cache folder on a monthly basis.