Index.dat

Index.dat files contain information about websites you have visited, things you have done, cookies you have received, etc. The main purpose, according to Microsoft, is that they speedup browsing by keeping this information nearby. The problem is, that they don't delete when you clear your temporary internet files! This is because Windows locks those files. They need to be cleared BEFORE it has a chance of doing that. So here's my recipe for it. Please note that this will also delete all your browsing history, since it deletes the content of a history, cookies and TIFF folder. All of those index.dat files and folders this deletes will be re-created by Windows during the bootup. 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 a Windows 9x computer these files are located in the following locations:

\WINDOWS\Cookies\Index.DAT

\WINDOWS\History\Index.DAT

\WINDOWS\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\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\Temporary Internet Files\Content.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

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.

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.

You can not delete index.dat files as long as Windows is running. That's why Complete Internet Cleanup needs to restart your PC in order to delete index.dat files.
Although as soon as Windows starts, new clean index.dat files will be created, ready to record your steps.

Deleting index.dat files is quite safe and besides freeing up some disk space has no other effects.

Which functions does Complete Internet Cleanup include?

• View MS Internet Explorer index.dat files (Temporary Internet Files, Cookies and History) in ASCII and HEX formats (Pro version only).
• Delete MS Internet Explorer index.dat files including Internet Cookies including Temporary Internet Files, Cookies and History.
• Remove MS Internet Explorer typed URLs, webforms (typed credit card number, passwords, etc.) and plugins.
• View and delete Mozilla cache, cookies and history.
• Clear Mozilla web forms (typed credit card number, passwords, etc.) and typed URLs.
• Delete Java cache and other temporary files.
• Clear the MRU (Most Recently Used) files list.
• Clear Windows pagefile (swapfile).
• Remove old prefetch files.
• Empty Recycle Bin.
• Remove Windows Run history.
• Remove Windows Search history.
• Delete the contents of Windows Temp folder.

How can I know that an index.dat file is clean?

• The size of a clean Cookies index.dat file is 16 KB.
• The size of a clean History index.dat file is also 16 KB.
• When clean the size of Temporary Internet Files (Cache) index.dat file is 32 KB.
• In rare cases when you have special Internet applications installed on your machine, you need to add 16 KB to the values above.

Why can't I find index.dat files on my hard disk?

• Because index.dat files are hidden by default. However if you want to make the index.dat files visible, you can do that in Windows explorer folder options.

Can I delete index.dat files?

• You can not delete index.dat files as long as Windows is running. That's why Complete Internet Cleanup needs to restart your PC in order to delete index.dat files.
• Although as soon as Windows starts, new clean index.dat files will be created, ready to record your steps.

Does deleting index.dat files affect my PC in any way?

• Deleting index.dat files is quite safe and besides freeing up some disk space has no other effects.

Is it possible to delete Cookies index.dat but keep other index.dat files?

• No, because the contents of index.dat files are in close relationship with each other. Thus generally to delete the contents of any index.dat file, you have to delete all index.dat files at the same time.

What is Windows Temp folder?

• Windows programs create their temporary files in the Temp folder. But sometimes they fail to delete them after use. An example would be those time when Windows stops responding and you push the Restart button on your PC.