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Thread ID: 44576 2004-04-23 09:29:00 Index.dat files Rogerwilco (4455) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
231567 2004-04-23 09:29:00 Win.XP.Home.

Is it safe to delete index.dat files? - I seem to have at least one which is an accumulation of urls from way back.

Thanks
Rogerwilco (4455)
231568 2004-04-23 09:43:00 yes tho its best to delete all the browser history and temp files at the same time. tweak'e (174)
231569 2004-04-23 09:45:00 have a look here (pressf1.pcworld.co.nz) johnboy (217)
231570 2004-04-23 11:21:00 Or instead of all that hassle you could just get this program, it is free, but check the options first and untick or it will delete things you may not want it to.

www.spazmatic.net

Rob.
zqwerty (97)
231571 2004-04-23 18:18:00 Hi Rogerwilco
Check FAQ 9b on this forum which is "How do I delete my hidden index.dt file" by Susan B.
Misty
Misty (368)
231572 2004-04-23 21:03:00 I find this is the easiest way, just copy the line below, paste into Notepad, and save as a file called delindex.bat in the root directory.

Then every now and again start in Safe Mode with command prompt and from C:\> type delindex.

%ComSpec% /c del /s /q "C:\Documents and Settings\index.dat"

This will find all instances of index.dat and delete them.
Terry Porritt (14)
231573 2004-04-24 01:50:00 > %ComSpec% /c del /s /q "C:\Documents and Settings\index . dat"

> This will find all instances of index . dat and delete them .


Just a point of clarification Terry, I have 25 iterations of index . dat on my main W2K box, and 15 on my W98 box .

Only a small number are in the Documents and Settings folder, so does your command line example find all instances wherever they may be, or is it limited to those in folders and subfolders off Doc & Set?

I'm not an expert in batch file writing unfortunately, so I use a boot disk to delete all index . dat files, which addresses them all individually with a Y/N option so I can see what's going down! I delete all temporary internet files, temp files and all cookies before deleting the index . dat files .

It is amazing how many files disappear when I do this and how much disk space I can reclaim!

Cheers

Billy 8-{)
Billy T (70)
231574 2004-04-24 03:49:00 Thats a lot of index.dat Billy, I only have 11 in my Win2k Pro and they're all in documents\settings and sub-folders.

In WinXP Pro I have 3 more in sub folders of C:\windows\system32\config\system profile\Local Settings for cookies, history and temp internet files, but from memory those files dont increase in size in my case.

You are right "all instances of index.dat" refered to those within C:\Documents and Settings and its sub folders.

Instead of ..."C:\Documents and Settings\index.dat", ...."C:\index.dat" could be used and then the /s switch will search all folders and sub folders of C:\.
Possibly you would have to ensure you are not deleting index.dat which are other than MS internet related.

In Win98SE I have just 6 instances of internet related index.dat, and I use a slightly different batch file as the dos 7 del command only has a /p prompt switch, not a global search and destroy switch.
Terry Porritt (14)
231575 2004-04-24 10:39:00 Hi Terry :-)

I had a go with your delindex . bat file which worked really well for the index . dats in the Documents and Settings folder but the ones in the C:\Windows\System32\Config folder weren't touched .

Since I'm not that experienced with . bat files nor DOS commands I have been wondering how to get rid of the latter in the same way . Do you have any ideas?
Susan B (19)
231576 2004-04-24 11:13:00 Hi there Susan, to get rid of all index.dat on the C drive make this the line in the batch file for use with XP.

%ComSpec% /c del /s /q "C:\index.dat"

There is I suppose a possibility that other programs may use files called index.dat that shouldnt be deleted, havent got any myself that arent IE related, but... :)
Terry Porritt (14)
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