Deletion Of Index.Dat Files

Addendum to last post: if you aren't sure about imaging:
then read these:
A great introduction to Light Virtualisers, pros and cons:
https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=196103
https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=230459
Sorry, getting a bit off track but these two threads are a lead into a new world

 

Gosh Longboard, you are so helpful and thorough. The others also are incredibly kind and helpful in their replies.
------
How are your user accounts set-up ??
Are you running as admin ?
------
I guess it is set up for KAS only. I can see an ADMIN panel on the accounts, but don`t know what to do with it.

I can clear all the Index.dat files except the big fatty. THAT is immune to my
overtures. I don`t know where it is but it reads ;-

C:\Documents and Settings\Mr KAS\Local Settings\History\HistoryIE5\Index.dat
It is 1,245,184 bytes and grows by the second.

CCleaner and Easycleaner cannot delete it. They ARE useless.
This plump parasite simply cannot be a personal gift to KAS from Microsoft - YOU MUST ALL HAVE ONE OF THESE IMMOVABLE OBJECTS in Windows XP.

Why any designer would wish to take away individual privacy and choice, I just cannot imagine.

As MS have deliberately inserted this obscene Index.dat fatty and made it untouchable by any but the absolute wizards, I am reluctant to try some of the delete suggestions given in case removing this throbbing piece of crap causes the system to implode in a shower of fragments. BUT I WANT IT OUT.

Any suggestions ? How and when can I cull this parasitic obscenity without
bringing shame and damnation onto my system by incurring the dreaded Microsoft curse ?
KAS

 

Is this your computer?
If so then whoever set it up must have set-up an Admin acct. and password

That would be a bit unusual, just use the same password for admin safe mode and usual login.

If it is not your computer then you may not have access to admin rights and whoever owns the box might want to keep those logs ?

Did you run IDS as per 'the tester?'
Did you try the Unlocker?
Did you do the "hints" as suggested?
Deleting this file will not harm your box: if you are worried then make an image or use one of the virtualisers as noted

If none of this helps : unfortunately I am at my limits

Get Firefox

 

Hey: Advanced SystemCare/Maintain Windows/Privacy Sweep/Internet Explorer: notched: Index.dat File.

Marked for deletion when you restart computer.

I have index.dat: 32 Kb.

No problem.

Ciao, PROROOTECT

 

PROROOTECT shorthand for this I asume
http://www.iobit.com/advancedwindowscareper.html
Ther yu go Kas, free, recommended

 

Yes Longboard; and then ... later find 'HERE' in Post 23 from RedDown: https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=225552&highlight=advanced windowscare That's all !

Your PRO !

 

Following all the kind replies to my Index.dat query, I have reached a solution based on these replies plus a thorough Internet browse, as follows ;-

Windows/IE generates any number of Index.dat files. Up to 3 of these are "system" files incorporated by Microsoft and activate when Windows starts. They CANNOT BE DELETED while in use by normal means and if they are by more sophisticated means, then the Windows/IE system will fail.

ONE of these system files is a Master file, which stores every event from new and accumulates data ad-infinitum during the life of the computer. Nothing can be prevented from being recorded on it or deleted from it and the file can grow to large proportions. EVERY Windows/IE PC has one of these master files.
At a limit of 80 MB (nobody should ever reach this) the system will fail.

Index.dat files other than the system files can be deleted as routine. The only effect will be that the data contained by these files will not be shown, e,g general browse history etc. No problem, the files will be regenerated automatically after deletion and resume tracking history.

Conclusion ;-
1) Non-system Index.dat files can be regularly deleted by any means - CCleaner, Easycleaner, etc.etc.
CCleaner or any other facility will NOT be allowed to touch the system files.

2) Index.dat files ARE a privacy threat. Why Microsoft even included them as "system" files is obscure and open to question.

3) The only solution to eliminating the privacy threat is to ERASE the descriptive data on the master file/files by over-writing it with blanks. This leaves the complete Index.dat file intact in terms of the listed coded data, necessary for the system to operate with no ill effects, but erases/deletes the visual and redundant descriptive content. A prowler cannot then read anything of value.

4) If a method of deleting only the content of the Index.dat files is available, then fine. This will NOT delete the file, but will just leave an empty file - no different than when it leaves the factory. So the system can "read" the file, but it is empty.

I will now explore some freebie erasers. I have no idea whether CCleaner ERASES the descriptive data on the Index.dat files or not. Using CCleaner infers that it has DELETED the file, but it HAS NOT. Whether Piriform call "erase" DELETE I would not know. It certainly does not touch the master Index.dat file or the KB size of it at all. If it does ERASE the descriptive content, then great, but if not, then CCleaner and other similar software is useless for Index.dat purposes.
KAS

 

Hey Kas
Always interested in this stuff,can you be more specific re where and what you found as to these "master files" and what they might contain.?

 

Here are two more Index.dat viewers.

Index.dat Scanner
This is freeware.

http://soft.em-tnt.com/ids_overview.php

Index.Dat Viewer and Zappit.
The Viewer is freeware, the Zapper you have to pay for. It's British and I don't know what the price would convert to in US Dollars.

http://www.scanraid.com/indexdat.htm

They both seem to work fine.

 

Kas maybe on vacation

So, have a look here:

Understanding Index.dat (Internet History Data File in Windows)
http://www.niiconsulting.com/checkm...dexdat-internet-history-data-file-in-windows/

Here is the History Directory hierarchy from a command prompt. These are the contents of my History.IE5, the Master Directory (Root),which displays as the "History" folder in Windows Explorer, under Local Settings in your Profile Folder;

It shows the Master Index.dat file and the Daily Directory MSHist012009022620090227 (a sub directory). The Daily Directory displays as the "Today" folder in Windows Explorer.

​

Here is the Index.dat file in MSHist012009022620090227, the Daily Directory::

​

----
rich

 

Hi Longboard and Rmus.

My main Index.dat file is shown as ;-
C:\Documents and Settings\Mr KAS\Local Settings\\History\History.IE5\index.dat. It is 1,245,184 bytes and this never changes for some reason.

Then I have daily usage files ;-
C:\Documents and Settings\Mr KAS\Local Settings\History\History.IE5\MSHist0120090**11 digits **\index.dat. It is 32,768 bytes and never changes. This is the same as the Rmus clip.
There can be up to 5 of these files, all the same except the 11 digit number changes.
I checked 4 of these MSHist files at 16,384 bytes, 81,920 bytes, 65,556 bytes and 32,768 bytes.
These files are the daily history files and provide the history for the IE visual on-screen reference in days/weeks as selected in TOOLS. It goes up to 999 days. I usually keep 32 days, which looks like why the file above has a bytes of 32,768.

If the history is deleted in TOOLS, all these MSHist files go and no history is visible on screen until browsing re-commences, then the files are regenerated automatically and history records continue.

The main Index.dat file is totally immune to delete by CCleaner, Easycleaner or any other software, since it is in use the moment Windows starts up. As in my previous note - I do not know WHAT CCleaner does. To my visual check - NOTHING, but it MAY erase the descriptive content of the file, I simply do not know.

If the main Index.data file is deleted, then the Windows/IE system will fail. If the descriptive data only is erased, leaving the coded content intact for systems purposes, then whether erasing this descriptive data on the master file will mean that NO history is ever visible on the IE screen again, I do not know.

To wrap this matter up, I conclude ;-
IF one is fanatical about privacy, then get a freebie to erase the descriptive data only on the master file and otherwise leave the file alone.

The daily MSHist files can be deleted at any time, it just means that visible history will not be available until browsing generates it again. You have the choice of up to 999 days by using TOOLS.

From this point on, I think I have found out enough about Index.dat files to satisfy my own concern. I will use CCleaner every day and clear the history with TOOLS if I feel my escapes on the net need erasing. The main untouchable Index.dat file, I will tolerate, nobody can read the descriptive content on screen, although server snoopers and hackers can. If I smell any hanky-panky going on, I will carry out an erasure.

Many thanks to all the kind responders to this thread and I hope that some of the material is useful to others.
KAS

 

Evidently this is by design - it is the Master Index.dat.

I have not found this to be the case.

I'm on my Win2K workstation, and I can log on as Administrator and delete that Master Index.dat from my profile because it is not being used by the system; in other words, it is not locked.

I delete the file, then verify:

​

I log back into my account and Windows creates a new Master Index.dat

​

----
rich

 

... and my CCleaner: clears my Master index.dat. Easily, after the restart of Windows.

 

Richj,
You are a genius - best responses I have seen.
Very positive. So you CAN delete this master file and it will regenerate when playing starts again. Wonderful.
My problem is - I do not know how to follow you up the freeway, I am just standing in a lay-by watching in amazement and waiting fr my driving instructor to tell me what to do next.
KAS - Some people are so clever.

 

Well, I'm not a genius, I just figured out what works on my system.

I emphasize that because I've learned not to advise others to fiddle with system files: I can't know what other changes/tweaks people have made, and the forums are full of poor souls whose system quit functioning because of something they did.

The answer in my previous post was just to say that your blanket statement didn't hold true on my system. From what I had read a long time ago about these particular files, I was sure that Windows re-creates them. Yet when I first tried it, I made a copy of them just to be safe.

With regards to the other Index.dat files in Windows, note the caution in one of the articles posted above about deleting them.

Anyway, what I did here was for illustrative purposes only, because with my system partition frozen with Deep Freeze, any changes made to this partition are discarded on reboot, so no user data is ever stored in these Index.dat files.


----
rich

 

winspy.exe is a free download that will allow you to read what's inside index.dat.

Index.dat Suite is a free download allows both read and deletion of index.dat contents. Operation is not intuitive - read the help file.

Hope this helps!

 

Hi,

Solution for Index.dat files dilemma: http://www.markusjansson.net/eienbid.html

Thanks, Markus Jansson!

Yours PROROOTECT

 

@Kas and Rmus:

Ya
Kas I was confused by your previous info re the difficulties you were having.
Hope this is all sorted now?

http://www.markusjansson.net ; lots of useful tips

 

To PROROOTECT AND LONGBOARD

Thanks a lot, you are both so very helpful.
Had a browse of MARKUSJANSSON - it sure is a useful and practical piece of information.

Note GUD4YU - I have downloaded and saved INDEX.DAT SUITE but have not yet used it - bit nervous of it. Don`t really know what happens when I hit RUN in the absence of a guide. I will download WINSPY.EXE and see what that is all about.

You really are all very helpful. What a delightful Forum this is to raise a question and get so many enthusiastic replies.
KAS

 

Not difficult and nothing can be hurt. Briefly:
- Start Index.dat Suite.
- Click on 'Find' box.
- Click on Windows Command Prompt Icon (Second-from-left on toolbar).
- Message pops up indicating that batch file has been created, re-start PC.
- Batch file runs at boot-time.
- Windows boots with clean index.dat file.

You can confirm cleaning with Super Winspy viewer.

Hope this helps!

 

I don't know if this link provides new information, but fwiw:

http://www.foundstone.com/us/resources/proddesc/pasco.htm

There's also a link to a 30-page whitepaper on the Pasco website discussing index.dat files:
http://www.foundstone.com/us/pdf/wp_index_dat.pdf

Foundstone is a div. of MacAfee; they seem to have some interesting free tools here:
http://www.foundstone.com/us/resources-free-tools.asp

 

After cleaning with CCleaner, I have in Registry:

HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager:

Name: PendingFileRenameOperations
Data: C\ ... \Content.IE5\index.dat

Thanks, CCleaner!