Internet Explorer, in colaboration with the Microsoft Operating System, has a sneaky way of going about storing data regarding every web page you visit in files that are not visible - even with Show Hidden files and Folders enabled and Hide Protected Operating System Files disabled in

My Computer-->Tools-->Folder Options-->view-->files and folders-->hidden files and folders.

Why this is so can only be attributed to dark and sinister intentions. I assume MS gets away with this legally because international laws haven't caught up yet. So there it is, another reason to chuck Internet Explorer where it belongs, in the bin, and switch to a webbrowser like Mozilla Firefox which is freely downloadable, much more stable, adheres to 3W standards much more readily,..., i.e. MUCH BETTER to work with.

Anyway, I get asked so much about this problem. Here is what you need to do if you have a Windows XP Professional operating system.

1 - Optional: Check out where these secret files are in your current account

Go to

My Computer-->C-->Documents and Settings-->(your account name)-->Local Settings-->Temporary Internet Files

Now there's a folder there you can't see, but can access by adding \Content.IE5 in the address bar so it looks like

C:\Documents and Settings\(your account name)\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5

Now you can see some secret folders and a file we're interested in, called index.dat.
Right click on this file and choose

open with-->choose program

and find a simple text editor such as notepad or wordpad. Now you can see all the webpages you visited lately. There are at least 4 more index.dat files to be found elsewhere, but for now try to delete this file ... try as you might - you won't be able to delete either this file or the contents within. To do that we need a more elaborate procedure ...

2 - Create a new Password-protected Administrative account

First you need to create another user account as administrator (even if you're currently using an administrator account). To do this, go to

Start-->Control panel-->User Accounts

Click Create a new account. Type in a suitable name, such as SamAsAdministrator, make sure to tick Computer Administrator. Once created, click on the newly created icon and choose Create a Password. Just do what you're asked to do, being the good catholic you are, and make sure you can remember it.

3 - Log into your newly created account and set some settings

Log out of your current account (the account in which you want to delete the secret files), and switch to your newly created account (you'll need to enter your password).
First thing you do is to make these secret files visible, i.e. enable Show Hidden files and Folders and disable Hide Protected Operating System Files in

My Computer-->Tools-->Folder Options-->view-->files and folders-->hidden files and folders.

In this new administrator account you can access the files of the user from which you just logged off:

My Computer-->C-->Documents and Settings-->(your OLD account name)

By OLD account I mean the account from which you want to delete the secret files. The index.dat files which you want to delete are at the following locations:

C:\Documents and Settings\(your OLD account name)\Cookies\index.dat

C:\Documents and Settings\(your OLD account name)\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5

C:\Documents and Settings\(your OLD account name)\Local Settings\History\History.IE5

+ The 2 folders in History.IE5 also contain index.dat files.


Do as you did before: Open each file with notepad, delete its contents, and this time you will find that you are able to save the changes.

Using Software to delete these secret files

I tried some free software that claims to erase these files, however I haven't found one yet that successfully can do so - let me know if you do know of one.

Update

It isn't free, but the Webroot company has recently launched their Window Washer application which manages to access these files and overwrite all logged text several times with characters. It also has the capability to bleach all unused space on the hard drive. I've used it for a few months now quite successfully - if nothing else, it saves a lot of hard drive space, as there's a lot of logging going on in the Windows Operating System and various applications. The cost is very reasonable (in the 20 dollar mark).

Other methods

Just to set the record straight, this method worked for me - which is not to say that there are no easier solutions to this problem. Again, if you know of one, let me know.