Is every website stored in registry?

Someone told me that every single website I visit is permanently stored into the Windows Vista Registry. Is that true?

And if so, how do I clean the registry of all websites?

 

They're speaking, not of the registry, but of the new tricks they've thrown into Vista with the index.dat files. Here's a good place to start with taking care of that. This is for Vista only.

 

If I understand correctly (the link), in Vista index.dat cannot be removed ?

What about overwriting it, like Webroot's Window Washer can under XP (not sure if it overwrites ALL index.dat files) ?

 

They can be removed (cleaned), but as always, it requires a reboot. The trick is in finding them. Some software is able to do this properly for Vista index.dat files, most don't.

The Vista index.dat files should be located here:


\Users\<Username>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\index.dat
\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\History\Content.IE5\index.dat

My advice: use CCleaner version v2.05.555 or higher and even then double check with one of the freeware index.dat viewers.

Again, all this all relates to Windows Vista. Windows XP index.dat files aren't quite so well-hidden. Why Microsoft even has these files in Windows is a subject of interest. It clearly does not "speed up" cached websites as Microsoft claims as that's the purpose of the TIF and once everything is deleted from the browser by a normal user - index.dat remains and nothing is "sped up". The best guess is it's a nod to law enforcement for forensics use. Period. It serves no other purpose.

 

XP apparently has some encrypted registry keys which hold data about websites etc., but I have no idea if they exist in Vista as well; http://www.personal-computer-tutor.com/abc3/v29/vic29.htm

Whatever, CCleaner and MRU Blaster (despite being out of date) will clean or delete these so called 'User Assist' keys in XP (as well as the index.dat files), but I have no idea if these programs work with Vista.

 

OMG I just read this. I am shocked! They have made it nearly impossible to prevent the logging that they do.....or even to find it. I am going to buy this product for my Vista computer, assuming that it works on a 64 bit Vista.

But how about XP??

 

I usually just use R-wipe & clean, and Tune up Utilities 2009's 1 click maintenance to take care of this, but last night I ran Xp repair pro, and it found all kinds of registry entries that contained odd names of files pertaining to history on my Machine, not to mention all the other crap I found with it that contained history, I was like wow, also after running that scan and cleaning my machine with xp repair pro, my machine is faster than it has been seance I first installed XP like 100% WOW, my machine finally boots fast and runs like new again

 

I have not tried XP Repair Pro. I have R-Wipe though. My computer runs faster after running Sweepi followed by Ccleaner. I have sweepi set to overwrite and complete wipe.

Have you tried Sweepi?

 

In my best Billy Mays voice:
Call in the next ten minutes and receive a freeeee RAM optimizer!

 

Now thats just a flat out rude dude!

Xp Repair Pro is one of the best Utility softwares I have used so far, and trust me I have tested almost every one of them out their!

 

So do you think that these cleaners erase the dat files in Vista?

 

No, that was a joke. You sounded as enthusiastic as Billy Mays on TV. Everything really isn't a personal attack on you.

 

"Sandboxie" prevents writing to disk so therefore it should also prevent what sites u visit from being stored in registry and index dat if u use Sandboxie?

 

(Slightly offtopic) Keep in mind that index.dat files store more than visited sites, so sandboxie solves only part of the problem.

 

SandboxIE doesn't prevent writing to the disk, it only prevents access to to the OS, you need to configure eraser to erase the contents of the sandbox, or you can go to C:\Sandbox and manually erase the contents yourself!

Can you please specify more on this subject, I do not agree, the index.dat files will be erased when the user chooses to erase the contents of the sandbox.

So Sandboxie does solve the problem, as long as your running your browser within the sandbox, and you erase the contents when you are done!

 

You can also simply delete the sandbox. Again, it all depends on your own personal threat model. Sandboxie has quickly evolved from a security program to a privacy program, something I think was needed and is a good thing. The emphasis on the development of the product has been on privacy.

I still think a sandboxie and Deep Freeze/Returnil solution offers Windows users the most privacy as well as protection from malware of all kinds. Throw in a router for hardware firewall protection and a program like Anti-Executable and really, that's all 99.9% of users would ever need. No reason to buy or download a single other "security" program.

 

Why not just use Firefox instead of IE, then you won't have to worry about the index.dat file?

 

You still have to worry about index.dat file from c:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\History folder. It contains some of the files you accessed during normal windows operations.

 

Nautilus is right. I use only Opera and, very occasionally, Firefox, but if I use one of the many free index.dat viewers which are available, I can see lots of information about what pages I've visited etc.

I did once have a tool that allowed me to see the content of the User Assist keys in the Registry as well, but I 'lost' it and the site I got it from has closed because the owner graduated!

 

Use SandboxIE when you don't want index.dat files being written to the OS!

 

I use it, but not on my Vista 64 bit. I hate that it is not compatible. Neither is Returnil.

 

(above statement related to a question about using a browser different from IE)

I've just reread this thread.

Is there any way to remove or overwrite Vista (64 bit) index.dat files, without using a bootable Linux dvd or Sandboxie ?

Does Ccleaner really and permanently remove the index.dat files ? I'm inclined to think it doesn't, since from what I've read it appears that they can't be removed. I also suspect that frequent use of Ccleaner removes too much to be practical, but I don't know. I've tried both Ccleaner and Webroot's Window Washer, and the latter seemed to clean more (overwrites, does not remove), although I'm not sure about the index.dat files.

I currently don't have Vista, so I can't just try things.

Does Window Washer remove ALL index.dat files, are there other solutions, for the IE browser or other browsers ?

Does IE 8 also use index.dat (even when using 'inprivate' or whatever it's called), and (or by Vista itself) index.dat in quote above ?

Any help is appreciated.

 

The way to go would be to prevent writing to the index dat files and prevent them from being updated in the first place, every time you surf the internet.

you can do this by using something like Returnil.

Or even by using Malware Defender or Eqsecure file and folder rules.

c:\documents and settings\name\local settings\history\history.ie5 index.dat
c:\documents and settings\name\local settings\temporary internet files\content.ie5 index.dat
c:\documents and settings\name\cookies index.dat

Read--DENY
Write--DENY
Create--DENY
Delete--DENY

There is also the option of using full disk encryption

 

On Windows XP they cannot be accessed during normal Windows functioning, and I think it's the same on Vista. The only way to remove them is to mark them for deletion at the next boot (this is a trick done by PendMoves from sysinternals or by CCleaner). Be aware that CCleaner DOES NOT wipe these files, it just marks them to be deleted by Windows; they are deleted at reboot, and then they are recreated.
The other way is the one suggested by arran, to use a HIPS that denies writting to the index.dat files.

 

I wasn't planning to use a HIPS. Returnil is full system virtualization ? I've considered it, but decided I didn't like the lack of protection (without AV) concerning infected websites (sensitive information, like credit card data), and it would consume resources.

Full disk encryption seems a bit too cumbersome, just for this thing.

I'm not clear about what you are trying to say about CCleaner.
It marks the index.dat files to be deleted at reboot, and then they are recreated. So you´ll be stuck with the same index.dat files ??
Or not, and they are empty, or different in what way ??
Please clarify.