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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. There are multiple Index.dat files
in different directories that keep a copy of whatever
there is in that folder and they continue keeping those
records even after you have deleted the contents of
those folders.
These files
can be very hard to find and erase. If you are in
Windows, even with "Show hidden files and folders"
enabled, these files are not visible and cannot be found
if you do a search for these 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.
On a Windows 9x computer these files
are located in the following locations:
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\WINDOWS\Cookies\index.dat
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\WINDOWS\History\index.dat
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\WINDOWS\Temporary Internet Files\index.dat
In Windows 2000 and Windows XP there
are several "index.dat" files in these locations:
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\Documents and
Settings\<Username>\Cookies\index.dat
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\Documents and
Settings\<Username>\Local
Settings\History\History.IE5\index.dat
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\Documents and
Settings\<Username>\Local
Settings\History\History.IE5\************\index.dat
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\Documents and
Settings\<Username>\Local Settings\Temporary
Internet Files\Content.IE5\index.dat
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\Documents and
Settings\<Username>\Local Settings\Temporary
Internet Files\Content.IE5\************\index.dat
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