Feature Comparison
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Windows 8 Note  -  PurgeIE, PurgeIE Pro and PurgeFox were designed to work with Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Prior to Windows 8, Internet Explorer utilized files named Index.dat for indexing the Cache, Cookies and History information.

Beginning with Windows 8, Index.dat files are not used. The indexing functions are implemented within a Microsoft database system. The programming interface routines used to access the Index.dat files now function for the database system.

Comparison Table for PurgeIE vs. PurgeIE Pro vs. PurgeFox

  -  -  -  - Features - - - -

Notes

PurgeIE

PurgeIE Pro

Purge-
Fox

Deletes Internet Explorer History

 note-1

Yes

Yes

Yes

Deletes FireFox History

  

- n/a -

- n/a -

Yes

Deletes IE Cache

 note-2

Yes

Yes

Yes

Deletes FireFox Cache

 note-2

- n/a -

- n/a -

Yes

Deletes IE "Visited URLs"

 note-3

Yes

Yes

Yes

Deletes the IE dropdown address list (Typed URLs)

  

Yes

Yes

Yes

Deletes Windows Recent Document Links

  

Yes

Yes

Yes

Deletes Temp File Folders

 note-4 

Yes

Yes

Yes

Clears IE Previous Searches

  

Yes

Yes

Yes

Deletes IE Cookies    

  

Yes

Yes

Yes

Function to specify 'good' IE Cookies to keep

 note-5

Yes

Yes

Yes

Deletes FireFox Cookies    

  

- n/a -

- n/a -

Yes

Function to specify 'good' FireFox Cookies to keep

 note-5

- n/a -

- n/a -

Yes

Deletes IE Stray URLs and Stray Files

 note-6

Yes

Yes

Yes

Option for execution at Windows startup

  

Yes

Yes

Yes

Provides a Shortcut for one-button execution

  

Yes

Yes

Yes

Provides a "Secure Erase" option - max of 99 overwrites

 note-7

- No -

Yes

Yes

Processes Vendor-supplied Plugins

  

- No -

Yes

Yes

Processes User-defined Plugins

  

- No -

Yes

Yes

Provides a Plugin Generator for users to create Plugins

  

- No -

Yes

Yes

Provides a Shortcut for executing Purge and shutting down Windows

  

Yes

Yes

Yes

Save separate Purge Options for execute at Windows Startup

  

Yes

Yes

Yes

Save separate Purge Options for one-button execution

  

Yes

Yes

Yes

Save separate Purge Options for execution with Windows Shutdown

  

Yes

Yes

Yes

Empties Windows Recycle Bin

  

Yes

Yes

Yes

Delete SuperCookies [UserData and DOMstore]

 note-8

Yes

Yes

Yes

Clears AutoComplete Forms

  

Yes

Yes

- No -

Require a System Service

 note-9

Yes

Yes

- No -

Display Statistics for Cache, etc., disk space

  

Yes

Yes

- No -

Preview function - to show what would be deleted

  

Yes

Yes

Yes

Choice of Full Detail or Summary for Preview and Purge Results

 note-10

Yes

Yes

Yes

Functions without requiring a Windows restart

  

Yes

Yes

Yes

Emergency function for deleting IE's 'Index.dat' files

  

Yes

Yes

Yes

Extensive Help file

  

Yes

Yes

Yes

Free Customer Support via Email

  

Yes

Yes

Yes

Free Upgrades for Registered users

  

Yes

Yes

Yes

Supports the Internet Explorer portion of AOL

 note-11

Yes

Yes

Yes

License permits installation on 2nd non-business computer

  

Yes

Yes

Yes

Site Licenses available

 note-12

Yes

Yes

Yes

Site Licenses at 25% discount for Educational use

  

Yes

Yes

Yes

Price (Single User License - Electronic Download)

  

$19.95

$29.95

$24.95
 
note-1 Clears current day's IE History File even if Internet Explorer can't clear its own History.
 
note-2 Cache is also referred to as 'Temporary Internet Files'.  PurgeIE and PurgeIE Pro can delete Cache entries based on time since last use.  PurgeFox does not support time based deletion of Cache. 
 
note-3 Some refer to IE's 'Visited URLs' file as Microsoft's Hidden Tracking file.
 
note-4 You can choose to clear the contents of any of the following:
  'Windows Temp folder'
  'System Temp folder'
  'Old (DOS) Temp folder'
  folder named 'Temp' on the boot drive.
 
note-5 For PurgeIE and PurgeIE Pro, a 'Protect' window is provided to allow you to select the 'good' Cookies to keep. (ex - tvguide.com and weather.com)  

In addition to displaying Cookies and their content, the 'Protect' window allows you to display the 'Visited URLs' and Cache entries. A search function is available to search these entries by partial names.

You can also delete individual Cookies, Cache entries and Visited URLs here.

The 'Protect' window has functions you can use to:
  block / allow Cookies from Sites you visited (IE-6)
  setting IE Security Zones for Sites you visited.
For PurgeFox, a 'Cookies' window is provided to allow you to select the 'good' Cookies to keep.  Displaying of 'Visited URLs' and Cache entries is not provided.

You can  also block / allow Cookies from Sites you visited.  PurgeFox does not support setting of IE Security Zones.
 
note-6 The 'Stray' option deletes Cache and Cookie files not referenced by their respective Index.dat files and deletes entries in these Index.dat files that do not reference an existing Cache or Cookie file.
 
note-7 Only three passes are required to meet the DOD specification - "DOD 5220.22-M".
 
note-8 Microsoft documents SuperCookies as 'UserData Persistence'.  These can store much more data than can be stored by normal Cookies.  This changed to DOMstore (Document Object Management) in IE-8.
 
note-9 PurgeIE and PurgeIE Pro require a System Service to clear the IE AutoComplete Forms.  PurgeFox does not support this function.
 
note-10 PurgeIE and PurgeIE Pro provide more detail than does PurgeFox.  In particular, PurgeFox does not provide detail for FireFox Cache entries.
 
note-11 As AOL uses Internet Explorer to access the Web, PurgeIE and PurgeIE Pro can clean up that portion of AOL's History, etc.. Note that AOL should be closed during the 'purge' process.
 
note-12 The price for site (multiple user) licenses is based on the number of systems.
 
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Revised: April 02, 2015