Index.dat File
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Index.dat file--What is
Index.dat file ? |
Index.dat are files 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 Windows Vista and Windows 7
Computer, index.dat files are
located :
\Users\<Username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Cookies\index.dat
\Users\<Username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Cookies\low\index.dat
\Users\<Username>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary
Internet Files\Content.IE5\index.dat
C:\Users\<UserName>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\History\Content.IE5\index.dat
On 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
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
Index.dat files can be very hard to
find. If you are in Windows, even
with "Show hidden files and folders"
enabled, index.dat files are not
visible and cannot be found if you
do a search for index.dat files. The
reason that these files are so
invisible is that they are not just
hidden, they have been designated as
"system" files. System files and
folders are treated differently in
DOS and Windows and are effectively
cloaked from casual searches.
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Index.dat files
are always being used by windows system, you can not delete index.dag files
manually, and even you clear Temporary Internet Files on Internet Option of
Internet Explorer, it will not delete index.dat files.
Using Tracks Eraser to delete index.dat files
is very easy, simply select the Index.dat on the IE Settings screen.
Tracks Eraser Pro overwrites all the index.dat files
with blank characters so that no one can see useful information from these
index.dat files
Example of how Tracks
Eraser deletes Index.dat file
Example: index.dat file before deleting
Example: index.dat file after deleting
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