Reset IE 11 without losing History

[Rick1441]

Hi. I want to reset IE 11 because it is sluggish and not working properly on some pages. Other mods I've tried haven't fixed the problems.



But I'm hesitant to do a reset because I sometimes find IE's history function extremely useful -- especially the record of local file access on my computer, including visit dates. I don't want to lose that record.



Any advice on how to reset IE 11 while preserving the history? Is there a way to back it up, and then re-import it, *with original visit dates intact*?


Win 7 64. Thanks.

 

[Ranger4]

Sluggish performance from browsers can be caused by a large history file, which is the reason clearing the history file occasionally is recommended.

As an alternative you could create a list under Favourites, which you can access from the Star symbol up on the top RH corner, & then use that to access the sites you regularly visit, although I don't think you will be able to save the dates of visits.

 

[Rick1441]

As I mentioned, my primary interest in preserving the IE History is for its record of computer files I accessed and on what dates -- much more so than for the record of websites visited.

 

[torchwood]

Hi Rick,

Your files can be copied, thier currently sat here

C:\Users\YOU\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files
where "YOU" is your username

As Ranger4 said, this file folder can/does affect the smooth running of it.

Thought create a task weekly/montlhy of the new data, copy/paste to initial back-up


Roy

 

[Rick1441]

torchwood -



Thanks for the input. I was aware of the location of the files, and had considered copying them as a second best solution, even if it were to turn out there was no way to re-integrate them into a reset IE.


However, these history folders seem to be some sort of special system format that unfortunately disallow copy and paste. That is true for both a week folder, and also if I drill down to site (or "Computer") folders within a week. Now, if I drill down even further to individual visit entries within these folders, I *can* copy and paste those. But besides presenting a more cumbersome task, the problem is that when I paste the copied files, all dates change to the current date. So I lose the important property of "date visited."


(BTW, with regard to the issue of extensive history causing browser sluggishness: In Firefox, my primary browser, I have almost two years of history, and was experiencing sluggish performance -- though not as much odd behavior as I am seeing in IE. I thought that maybe the large amount of history was causing the problem. But as soon as I updated to Firefox Quantum, all the sluggishness vanished, and Firefox has been blazing fast even with the large amount of history. Of course that doesn't prove the history isn't causing a slowdown in *IE.* But note that the IE problems surfaced rather suddenly rather than progressively, which would seem to argue against extensive history as the culprit, no?)


Rick