Re: Index.dat files by N
N
Thu Oct 07 03:43:45 CDT 2004
In article <D0577419-C146-441D-A070-79D55F657E30@microsoft.com>, =?Utf-8?B?
VGhlQkZH?= says...
> Is it necessary to erase these files for security purposes?
Maybe. I've never actually tried very hard to pull data. If passwords are
included, their encryption level is probably only as good as the site you
visited.
> It seems that they keep all the URL history etc and can only be erased by
> certain 3rd party programs.
> Any opinion on this?
They are a "last in first out" buffer, and the size seems to be limited to
some percentage of the available disk space. I moved my TIF/Content.IE5
folder to a 545 MByte partition on a 40 GByte drive; it doesn't seem to grow
much larger than about 10% of that capacity. Ergo, it can't keep "all" URL
history; not enough space! I don't know what the upper limit might be when
it is on a full 80 GByte, or larger, partition.
I have never had any trouble finding, or deleting them with ordinary MS-DOS
tools, despite fanciful, and fearful claims of them being will hidden and
hard to delete. If they exist within the Windows folder, as they do in a
default install, the OS does make it hard to delete while Windows is
running. This is, I believe, true for all files in the Windows folder, and
sub-folders. But relocating the TIF to a different location is easy, done
from the Internet Properties; and all files seem readily deleteable from the
Windows Explorer once they are out of the Windows folder.
That last is my personal experience on only two Windows Me computers; others
may come along and contradict that experience.
--
Norman
~Win dain a lotica, En vai tu ri, Si lo ta
~Fin dein a loluca, En dragu a sei lain
~Vi fa-ru les shutai am, En riga-lint