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Deleting contents of index.dat RRS feed

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    On my XP machine I can wipe all index.dat files by CDing to Documents and Settings and doing "dir /b /s index.dat>dirfile.bat" -- then I edit that file by prefacing the name of Mark Russovinich's excellent movefile utility to each line ("movefile ") and finally suffixing a space and "". After rebooting all are reset to a (presumed) empty state. (Yes, I know commercial utilities can do this but I always feel better when I do the job myself with tools I know and trust.)

    When I try the same thing in Win 7 from the Users directory I simply get "file not found." I know the bloody index files are there because Agent Ransack finds a ton of them. Can anyone point me in the right direction? Thanks to all those who do.

    Thanks . . . whitesmith

    Saturday, May 12, 2012 2:24 PM

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    Hi,

    Index.dat files in Windows 7 are located in:

    C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Cookies\index.dat
    C:\Users\<username>\    AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Cookies\Low\index.dat
    C:\Users\<username>\    AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\History\History.IE5\index.dat
    C:\Users\<username>\    AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\History\History.IE5\Low\index.dat
    C:\Users\<username>\    AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\History\History.IE5\index.dat\MSHistXXXXXXXXXXX\index.dat
    C:\Users\<username>\    AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\History\History.IE5\Low\index.dat\MSHistXXXXXXXXXXX\index.dat
    C:\Users\<username>\    AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\index.dat
    C:\Users\<username>\    AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Low\Content.IE5index.dat
    C:\Users\<username>\    AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\UserData\index.dat
    C:\Users\<username>\    AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\UserData\Low\index.dat

    If you want to delete index.dat, you can try this method:

    1 Restart in "Safe Mode with Command Prompt"

    2 type "cd.." (without quotes) as many times as needed to get to the root of C

    3 type: del index.dat /s

    4 type shutdown –r

    System will restart normally with a new (and clean) index.dat file

    Regards,

    Leo   Huang

    Leo Huang

    TechNet Community Support

    • Marked as answer by Leo Huang Monday, May 21, 2012 2:18 AM
    Monday, May 14, 2012 6:39 AM

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    Hi,

    Index.dat files in Windows 7 are located in:

    C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Cookies\index.dat
    C:\Users\<username>\    AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Cookies\Low\index.dat
    C:\Users\<username>\    AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\History\History.IE5\index.dat
    C:\Users\<username>\    AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\History\History.IE5\Low\index.dat
    C:\Users\<username>\    AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\History\History.IE5\index.dat\MSHistXXXXXXXXXXX\index.dat
    C:\Users\<username>\    AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\History\History.IE5\Low\index.dat\MSHistXXXXXXXXXXX\index.dat
    C:\Users\<username>\    AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\index.dat
    C:\Users\<username>\    AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Low\Content.IE5index.dat
    C:\Users\<username>\    AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\UserData\index.dat
    C:\Users\<username>\    AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\UserData\Low\index.dat

    If you want to delete index.dat, you can try this method:

    1 Restart in "Safe Mode with Command Prompt"

    2 type "cd.." (without quotes) as many times as needed to get to the root of C

    3 type: del index.dat /s

    4 type shutdown –r

    System will restart normally with a new (and clean) index.dat file

    Regards,

    Leo   Huang

    Leo Huang

    TechNet Community Support

    • Marked as answer by Leo Huang Monday, May 21, 2012 2:18 AM
    Monday, May 14, 2012 6:39 AM
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    i have done the ist and 2nd instructions. After this i type C:\>"del index.dat /s" this command (only in quotes).

    but it gives an error "could not find C:\index.dat"

    Sunday, January 25, 2015 1:37 PM