Mousetrap: to clear the drop down bar you have to go to the internet properties (right click on the internet explorer icon on your desktop and chose 'properties' then go to the 'content' tab and click on 'autocomplete' in there clear the forms and passwords
but i think thats not it i think you have to clear the recent file list .. i dont know how to do that in windoes xp ... i mainly use windows 98 :) .. which version of windows do you use ?