How to Clean Every History Cache

Clean every history cache on your computer.

Your computer keeps a record of all activities conducted on your computer, including Internet history and local computer history. Even when you clear your Internet history, it's not completely deleted from your computer, because a backup copy of the deleted history is stored in a hidden file known as the index.dat file. Therefore, in order to clean every history cache on your computer, you have to locate the hidden index.dat file. However, you cannot delete the index.dat file on the user account to which the file belongs, as you will receive an error message stating that the file cannot be deleted because it's in use. You can sidestep this problem by creating an alternate user account with administrative rights.

Difficulty:

Moderate

Instructions

1. Create a new user account on your computer, and grant the account administrative rights. To do this, click "Start." Click "My Computer." Click "Control Panel." Click "User Accounts." Click "Create a new account." Input a name for your new user account. Click "Next." Select the option to grant the account "Administrative Rights." Click "Create Account."

2. Log off the account whose history cache you wish to clear. Sign in with your newly created alternate user account.

3. Set your folder options to show the index.dat files on your computer. Click "Start." Click "Search." Click "Tools." Click "Folder Options." Click the "View" tab. Select the option to "Show hidden files and folders" located beneath the "Hidden files and folders" heading. Deselect the options to "Hide extensions for known file types" and to "Hide protected operating system files." Click "Apply," and then "OK."

4. Locate the index.dat files on your computer. Set your search parameters to look in "All Files and Folders" in the "C Drive." Type "index.dat" into the search box, and click "Search."

5. Click an index.dat file from the search results pane to select it. Press the delete (Del) key to delete it, effectively cleaning every history cache.

Tips & Warnings

• Your computer might have more than one index.dat file on it. Delete all of them at one time by holding down the "Ctrl" key to select multiple files at once. Then simply press the delete key once to delete all of them.

• Always restore your default file and folder settings when you are done. Restore default file and folder settings by clicking the "Restore Defaults" button located in the "View" tab of the "Folder Options" window accessed in Step 3.

References

• Filetonic: How to Delete Index.dat File