5 Technical Steps to a Successful Meeting Place

1. Clean out Temporary Internet Files to improve performance of your hard drive by

clearing your cache - 2 options below. (Your browser creates a copy of all images, pages, and objects for each website visited and stores in an area called 'cache'. The cache generally saves time, as each graphic is not downloaded again when you revisit the website. However, your cache may grow quite large, and your computer must go through thousands of files to reach a particular graphic, thus resulting in latency.)

• Option A - Windows 98 and above may run the Disk Cleanup system utility.
  
  Disk Cleanup helps free space on your hard drive by identifying temporary files, Internet files, and unnecessary program files that can be safely deleted. You can direct Disk Cleanup to delete some or all of the identified files. To run: click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click "Disk Cleanup" and follow the wizard.


• Option B - you may also clear the cache via your browser:
  
  
  Internet Explorer: Click on Tools, and select Internet options. In the 'Temporary Internet Files' section, click on Delete Files. A new window will open, select Delete all offline content, then click OK to exit the menu.
  
  Netscape Communicator: Click on Edit and select Preferences. Click on Advanced by selecting the '+' symbol, select the sub-category, Advanced Named Cache. On the right side of the window, select the button labelled Clear Memory Cache and then click Clear Disk Cache. Proceed by clicking OK and exit the menu.

2. Reboot your computer prior to starting your web conference. This will free up memory by clearing anything that might be resident in your computer. This will also guarantee that there are no other programs running, which may use important resources. Once you have restarted your computer, avoid opening applications that are not needed during your web conference. If possible, avoid opening your mail program.

3. If you have any "pop-up" blocking software, disable it. Blocker software may prohibit you from getting into the meeting and / or sharing applications.

4. Close all applications that are not necessary for the web conference. This will free up memory to allow your computer to be more productive.

5. Maintain your system by running disk defragmenter regularly. (This is a good practice regardless!)

To promote successful web conferences and application sharing, we recommends all presenters and the moderator follow these processes prior to the scheduled meeting.