What's the IE cookie file "index dat"?
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Humboldt
What's the IE cookie file "index dat"?
Hello, can anyone tell me what this file is? I figure it gathers information somehow (hell, it's in the cookie file after all). But does anyone know what it is, what it does, how to get rid of it, what it's for, if it's needed? Thanks
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TonyT
see this first: http://www.speedguide.net/ubb/Forum3/HTML/000728.html
then this to delete it: http://www.speedguide.net/ubb/Forum3/HTML/000766.html
index.dat files are a major cause of IE troubles!
then this to delete it: http://www.speedguide.net/ubb/Forum3/HTML/000766.html
index.dat files are a major cause of IE troubles!
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Humboldt
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loosbrew
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TonyT
IExplorer's cache, history & cookie files cannot be written over and securely deleted in Windows because the files are in use during every Windows session. Access to these files is denied by Windows while they are in use:
C:/Windows/Tempor~1/index.dat (your temporary internet files- these are cached html pages, images, etc)
C:/Windows/Cookies/index.dat (cookies)
C:/Windows/History/index.dat (history of visited websites)
The 'index.dat' files contain all the files showing in C:\Windows\Temporary Internet Files and C:\Windows\Cookies and C:\Windows\History.
These files are basically a running record of every website & all website content viewed & cached, every url ever visited, & every cookie ever received. Clearing the caches of the actual files DOES NOT remove the entries in the index.dat files. These files can eventually grow HUGE. IE checks these files every time it is running to see if the cache contains them. It checks the index.dat files & if it finds a record of a file that is part of a webpage being requested, it will then look for the needed files in the cache PRIOR to actually downloading the pages & images being requested. If the files are not in the cache, then they will get downloaded & put there.
If the index.dat files are large, this step by IE can slow down page downloads. Not by much though cause we are taliking miliseconds here. But often entries in the index.dat files can get corrupted which can really play havoc with IE. The whole files can get corrupted & is a leading cause of IE troubles.
They can safely be deleted vis real DOS mode, not an MSDOSPrompt window, but by restarting in DOS & using the commands in the link above. Windows will recreate new empty files when you restart in windows.
If your index.dat in the TempIntFiles cache is over 100 KB, try deleting it & I'll bet your surfing speed increases!
None of the info in these dat files is ever transmitted or used by websites, except for info that "tracking cookies" request & gather & send. And cookies that contain usernames & passwords for UBB sites such as this.
One risk is if you sell your system or give it away, software programs exist that can read or convert the data in these files to readable text, thus exposing the fact that we have visited britney'schest.com.
Next time you have IE woes & repairing using the repair utility doesn't help, get rid of the cache files, ALL of them!
C:/Windows/Tempor~1/index.dat (your temporary internet files- these are cached html pages, images, etc)
C:/Windows/Cookies/index.dat (cookies)
C:/Windows/History/index.dat (history of visited websites)
The 'index.dat' files contain all the files showing in C:\Windows\Temporary Internet Files and C:\Windows\Cookies and C:\Windows\History.
These files are basically a running record of every website & all website content viewed & cached, every url ever visited, & every cookie ever received. Clearing the caches of the actual files DOES NOT remove the entries in the index.dat files. These files can eventually grow HUGE. IE checks these files every time it is running to see if the cache contains them. It checks the index.dat files & if it finds a record of a file that is part of a webpage being requested, it will then look for the needed files in the cache PRIOR to actually downloading the pages & images being requested. If the files are not in the cache, then they will get downloaded & put there.
If the index.dat files are large, this step by IE can slow down page downloads. Not by much though cause we are taliking miliseconds here. But often entries in the index.dat files can get corrupted which can really play havoc with IE. The whole files can get corrupted & is a leading cause of IE troubles.
They can safely be deleted vis real DOS mode, not an MSDOSPrompt window, but by restarting in DOS & using the commands in the link above. Windows will recreate new empty files when you restart in windows.
If your index.dat in the TempIntFiles cache is over 100 KB, try deleting it & I'll bet your surfing speed increases!
None of the info in these dat files is ever transmitted or used by websites, except for info that "tracking cookies" request & gather & send. And cookies that contain usernames & passwords for UBB sites such as this.
One risk is if you sell your system or give it away, software programs exist that can read or convert the data in these files to readable text, thus exposing the fact that we have visited britney'schest.com.
Next time you have IE woes & repairing using the repair utility doesn't help, get rid of the cache files, ALL of them!