I'm going to piggyback on what mitchell65 said, and ask how or why you think the index.dat file is slowing dowwn your computer? I'm not saying this is impossible, but this is the first I've heard of it, or anyone wanting to do anything with their index.dat file that wasn't paranoia/security related.
I want to delete it because it's eating up space on my computer and it runs slower when it's there. I (used to) regularly clean the file out and things went faster. Why do we pay for memory that is being used for someone else's purposes? Really, I'm happy to give the file to someone else (MS, gov, post on internet) but I clearly don't need it, it doesn't help the system, it's burning up my memory, and why should I keep it?
So, let me ask you, why would I need it? I need the memory. I don't need the file. I want to delete it.
Finally, changing ownership doesn't help with the index.dat which resides in a locked file under the users/appdata...../history folder beause the history subfolder is locked.
Does it not seem ironic to you folks at MS that we purchase memory and then you use the memory we purchased for someone else's storage purposes? As I said, I don't care who sees the history, but I don't care to keep it. If someone else is interested in it, they can have it. But I'm not storing it for them at my own memory expense.
Why is that so hard for MS to understand?
Again, I have to ask how or why you think the index.dat files are affecting your computer in any way. I am working on a Windows 7 Pro system with 8 index.dat files (according to CCleaner), that take up 30 KB in space. I use IE8 as my primary and only web browser.
Without trying to sound rude, the index.dat file is not slowing down your computer, wasting memory, or anything like that. I'm not sure where you got this idea, but I wouldn't go to that source for any more tech info. If you want to wipe the contents of the file for security reasons, apparently CCleaner will do so. However, if performance is what you are after, there are several thousand items on the checklist before the index.dat files.
One of the larger Index.dat files is in the Users/.../Appdata/Local/Microsoft/Windows/History folder. There are two subfolders there that can be seen using a dos command, or any of the softwares (like Ccleaner). However, the history folder is locked. You can't change ownership and none of the softwares can get to the files.
I do wonder though why you keep questioning my motive.
How does one delete the index.dat files from the hidden/locked history folder cited above? None of the software mentioned so far works.
Last edited by Molly Lee; 12 Jan 2011 at 14:57.
You seem to be ignoring all of my posts, picking out random bits and pieces. You also have changed your questioning and reasoning along the way. First off, you wanted to delete the files because it was slowing your computer down. When questioned (politely), you decided to argue with me, after stating you needed things put into a kindergarten type level.
Is that any way to seek help from people putting in effort to answer your questions?
Now, let's get the facts out on the table for learning purposes. The index.dat files are not slowing your computer down. If this was your reasonsing for cleaning them, then yes, we should all be questioning your motives. However, as I said above, if you wan tto clean them for privacy concerns, then so be it. We could debate the merits of that in another thread, but it still is a legitimate question. My only suggestion is to use CCleaner, but apparently that doesn't access all of the files, so something else is needed.
In recap, editing/cleaning the file for performance reasons....nonsensical. Editing/cleaning them for privacy reasons...perfectly acceptable question, and one with no clear, easy answer unfortunately.
See the difference? If you trace back in your own line of questions...you've altered your purposes. See Post #12, where you give performance related reasons, suggesting it was slowing down your computer. In the future, just come right out with what you want to do, and don't give an attitude to people trying to help you.
This was the most recent thread I could find on this issue. I hope the bump is okay, and that you might help me out with this.
I wish to move or remove index.dat so that I can shrink my partition. It's very much in the way, but none of my attempts have so far been successful.
I have tried CCleaner and movefile. If I check the folder Contents.IE5 immediately after the lastest CCleaner has removed everything in all check boxes, the index.dat file is still there, still barring the way.
Even the command line isn't able to find the file upon a deletion attempt, even though it manages to fill in the filename when I press tab.
How large is your index.dat file?
Hello.
I've read through this thread. After a promising start the trail seems to have been lost.
The original issue was the actual deletion of index.dat files given the context of recent updates to the OS. Can anyone at this stage give clear directions as to how this can be achieved ?
Thanks.
Interesting suggestion - the first one. Worth a try. As for the old grey matter - well isn't being able to draw on somebody else's the whole point of the forum ?
Cheers.
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