windows 7 - How do I fix an Internet "Super Cache" on my Computer?

05
2014-04
  • mason81

    I have at least one website that I know for certain is "super cached" (or something that causes a similar behavior) on my computer and I have no idea how to clear it out. I will explain the problem first, then what steps I took to try to correct it.

    The Problem: One of the development sites I am working on (requires secure login and due to agreement with a client, I cannot provide that to the public) seems to be "frozen". No matter what I do to the files that run on the site, no changes are visible. I can put die/exit statements right in the PHP, completely delete files from the FTP, and the browser (all browsers on my machine actuall: chrome, firefox, IE) always displays the same exact content.

    Troubleshooting: I have tried all of the following:

    • Modify and/or Remove Files via FTP
    • Modify and/or Remove Files via FTP
    • Modify and/or Remove Files via SSH
    • Verify that the FTP info is 100% correct.
    • Cleared the browser's cache via the browser
    • Cleared the cache via CCleaner (along with just about everything else it offered).
    • Ran Windows Update
    • Tried disabling all plugins/extensions for all browsers
    • Changed my LAN connection's DNS servers to 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4
    • Manually cleared the %AppData%/Local/Temp directory
    • Restarted the computer
    • Updated Windows Security Essentials and ran a complete system scan
    • Test these changes on a different computer (other computers I tested with all verified any changes I made to the files on the server, but my computer always showed the original content)

    • I also tested the site in Ubuntu via VirtualBox on this same machine and Ubuntu recognized the changes, while the main OS (Windows 7) was still stuck

    • Went for a walk, got a fresh cup of coffee, ate a bagel, took a deep cleansing breath, and tried it all again.

    No matter what I tried, the site is still stuck on my machine, no matter which browser. If I test it in a different OS as a Virtual Machine or on a completely different computer, the site is as I would expect it to be.

    I have no idea what options I have left short of completely wiping out Windows 7 and doing a fresh install...

    I appreciate any help you can offer.

    Thanks in advance!

    • Answers
  • mason81

    Well, thanks to Ramhound for pointing out my stupidity, I apparently created an entry in the Hosts file that was redirecting to a different IP. It shouldn't have been a problem since there should have been only one location for the code/site, but I totally forgot we were migrating to a new server and in the process an old copy remained at the old IP. Why it's still there, I have no idea (can't get to cpanel or anything). But removing the hosts file entry fixed it. Thanks Ramhound...


    • Related Question

    Chrome browser caching
  • Kyle B.

    Possible Duplicate:
    How to force refresh without cache in Google Chrome?

    I do a lot of development on my local machine and would like to start using Chrome, however I cannot seem to do a hard-refresh (ctrl+f5) or any other key combination to get my browser to forcibly refresh all content @ http://localhost. I change projects frequently in IIS and this presents a problem because I see stylesheet and image data from my previous project with no way to get this page to reload without forcibly dumping all cache data from the settings menu.

    Is there another key combination I am missing, or is there a place I can (on a site by site basis) turn off caching? I prefer not to have to clear out my temporary files in the browser settings as I switch projects frequently.

    Thanks, Kyle


    • Related Answers
  • Synetech

    Update: This is supported in current versions of Chromium and Chrome.

    No, you are not missing anything. Chromium did not actually support forced-reload until recently.

    Either you can use the latest dev build in which it has been implemented, or you can delete the cache by pressing Ctrl+Shift+Del, then doing a reload. Sorry, no other key-combo or quicker/easier solution.

    (Unofficially, that is, untested, but I have noticed from a year-and-half of use that Chromium tends to pick up new info (eg changes in the HOSTS file, modified files, etc.) if you do a reload after a while, say a couple of minutes, whereas it if you reload right away, it will just use the cached info. So you could try that, but the delay may be more hassle than just emptying the cache.)

  • Sarah

    According to this page, ctrl+F5 should do what you want on Windows. However, there are a lot of bug reports pertaining to it not functioning correctly.

  • desau

    Looks like this has finally been implemented.

    Holding down Shift while accessing the View menu will give you a "Force Reload" option - complete with a hotkey. On Mac, it's Shift-Command-R.

  • lisak

    I think that the best solution is setting up non-writable permissions on the cache stuff

    HERE

  • Tauren

    Another temporary solution until this is fixed in Chrome is to open an Incognito window (ctrl-shift-n). In a new Incognito window, Chrome will not use the cache.

  • Paul Lammertsma

    You might want to try using some sort of CSS caching. I recently decided to fix this using the following approach:

    PHP

    $smarty->assign('css_hash', filesize('style/style.css'));

    Smarty

    <link rel="stylesheet" href="/style/style.css?{$css_hash}" type="text/css" />

    This will ensure that the browser loads the CSS when the size of the stylesheet changes. You could instead use a timestamp or a proper hash (e.g. MD5), but this fix sufficed for my purpose.