index.dat contains every URL I ever visited; WHY? 1

[midoubleraj]

I'm using IE 5.5 on Windows 98 SE. Occasionally I delete Temporary
Internet Files (both automatically and manually) and history of
visited Web sites. Nevertheless, I noticed that there is a index.dat
in my Temporary Internet Files folder, which apparently has logged in
all the pages I ever visited (I read it by using Word 2000).

I want to know what is a (sinister) purpose of existence of that
index.dat file, can it, or its content, be deleted without causing any
trouble in OS's work, and I want to know same about the desktop.ini
files.

Does anyone have any clue?

 

[ski]

You have to ask MS as to why the index.dat files(there are more than one) cannot be deleted with normal means.
To delete them, go to

http://www.google.com,

and type delete index.dat. There are many sites that can help you get rid of them.

 

[SESaskDFC]

Howdy:

Index.dat are file hidden on your computer that contain all of the Web sites that you have ever visited. Every URL, and every Web page is listed there. Not only that but all of the email that has been sent or received through Outlook or Outlook Express is also being logged. The file names and locations depend on what version of Internet Explorer you have. If you are running IE version 4.0 or above, the file name is "index.dat". Microsoft has not supplied an adequate explanation as to what these files are for or why they have been hidden so well.

According to Microsoft, these files are used to cache visited Web sites to help speed up the loading of Web pages in Internet Explorer. Obviously this cannot be the case because when you clear the Temporary Internet Files the "index.dat" files remain behind and continue to grow. If you delete or clear the Temporary Internet Files, there is absolutely no need to index the URL cache because those files no longer exist.

On a Windows 9x computer these files are located in the following locations:

\WINDOWS\Cookies\index.dat
\WINDOWS\History\index.dat
\WINDOWS\Temporary Internet Files\index.dat
\WINDOWS\Cookies\index.dat
\WINDOWS\History\index.dat
\WINDOWS\Temporary Internet Files\index.dat
In Windows 2000 and Windows XP there are several "index.dat" files in these locations:


\Documents and Settings\<Username>\Cookies\index.dat

\Documents and Settings\<Username>\Local Settings\History\History.IE5\index.dat

\Documents and Settings\<Username>\Local Settings\History\History.IE5\MSHist012001123120020101\index.dat
\Documents and Settings\<Username>\Local
Settings\History\History.IE5\MSHist012002010720020114\index.dat

\Documents and Settings\<Username>\Local
Internet Files\Content.IE5\index.dat


These files can be very hard to find. If you are in Windows, even with &quot;Show hidden files and folders&quot; enabled, these files are not visible and cannot be found if you do a search for these files. The reason that these files are so invisible is that they are not just hidden, they have been designated as &quot;system&quot; files. System files and folders are treated differently in DOS and Windows and are effectively cloaked from casual searches.

There are a pile of programs out there that will delete this file, but most are commercial and not freeware.

You could try it through DOS as well..

Restart the PC again in MS-DOS mode and navigate via the command line to the above mentioned directories from the &quot;C:\&quot; prompt via the &quot;cd&quot; command as in &quot;cd windows&quot;, then &quot;cd history&quot; and once you are there type del *.dat this deletes all of the files with the *.dat extension ie mm256.dat etc. It's true they re-generate every time you browse, but only in their most basic form of about 8192 bytes and if you read those, you don't see very much!


Murray

 

[ANFPS26]

Read this thread:

thread615-325252 &quot;A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.....&quot;

 

[ski]

There's at least one free program called Delindex that deletes the contents of the index.dat files.
But it's used in a DOS mode, and it also deletes many other &quot;useless&quot; files and folders be default which the user may not want to be deleted. However, this can be modified(in DOS) so that only specified files and folders are deleted.

 

[mainegeek]

This will clear the index.dat file.
I use Spider v1.16

http://www.fsm.nl/ward/

 

[Crustyoldbloke]

I suppose that if you wanted to rid your PC of these &quot;BIG BROTHER&quot; files, then a little batch file placed in the autoexec.bat before WINDOWS loads would do it. Something like:

Del C:\windows\cookies\index.dat
Del C:\windows\history\history.ie5\index.dat
Del C:\windows\tempor~1\content.ie5\index.dat
exit

That way, at least, your PC is clear of these each time it boots. But there are quite a few spies in the registry also.

Well done to BILL and all his mates in Government, Marketing etc., ad nauseum.



Regards
Phil
Ne auderis delere orbem rigidum meum!

 

[Wirdo]

I recommend Spider v1.16 as well, its a great program for cleaning all index.dat and temps ect.... And its freeware.

 

[midoubleraj]

Thank you all for your answers. I tempered something with those files
before and I had to reinstall my system - cause I probably did something I shouldn't have. That's way I was concerned about deleting them. Now I see that there are many ways to solve this problem.

Thanks again.

 

[hotfusion]

There is a good article written by 'The Riddler' on this subject, for those interested, at this URL:

http://www.fuckmicrosoft.com/

(Hopefully the board will display that correctly!) My suggestions are what I would try myself. If incorrect, I welcome corrections to my rather limited knowledge. Andy.

 

[MiklK]

Is there a way to set up Spider v1.16 so you can keep some cookies (like the one that keeps my tek-tips pw) and deletes the rest? That'd be great to hear about - i always hate losing ALL my cookies ... <smile>

(A bird in the hand greatly interferes with typing.)
Mikl

 

[Crustyoldbloke]

You can do that with SPYBOT, plus many more things.

Kind regards

Phil

 

[MiklK]

Thx crusty - but HOW?
I have both -
HOW can i use Spybot to preserve the cookies that Spider will otherwise clean out with all the other 'crap' cookies -and keep the good ones with screen names and pw's already set ?

PS I already gave you a star in anticipation of your anticipated stellar answer ...

(A bird in the hand greatly interferes with typing.)
Mikl

 

[Crustyoldbloke]

Mikl

Ensure that you have the most up-to-date version, which has the immunization files etc, my version is 1.2 with ALL updates. From the main menu select EXCLUDES>COOKIES and tick or check-mark those you wish to keep. That's it, job done.

Of course if you then run SPIDER and it deletes ALL cookies, you've basically &quot;shot yourself in the foot&quot; to coin a phrase.

Kind regards

Phil